Accipitrinae, 2014, Gouache on wood panel, 8” x 8”
Briefly describe the work you do.
My most recent work concerns my physicality in locale and environment. While residing in different communities over time, my work has become oracular in nature: each painting revealing itself through my time spent within a particular landscape or place. The resulting body of work explores abstraction, nature, ritual and migration. Rejecting the idea of the artist as despot, conqueror, or passive observer, I exist within the landscape, physically experiencing a location in a particular time and space.
Tell us a little about your background and how that influences you as an artist.
I was born in the Southwestern US in 1988, and have lived nomadically for the majority of my life. I currently reside and work in Minneapolis, MN. In 2011, I earned a Post-Baccalaureate from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, MA, where I con-currently attended classes at Tufts University in Medford, MA. I received a BFA with cum laude honors from the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, ND in 2010.
Throughout the winter and early spring of 2015, I will be residing and working in Rekyavík, Laugarvatn, and Hrísey, Iceland.I have always loved being outdoors and find that that is where I am most comfortable. I like to roam. Having lived and worked in so many different places has affected my practice to the end that it has become an immensely pivotal facet of the discourse surrounding my current bodies of work.
Binary, 2014, Gouache on wood panel, 8” x 8”
The concept of the “artist studio” has a broad range of meanings, especially in contemporary practice. The idea of the artist toiling away alone in a room may not necessarily reflect what many artists do from day to day anymore. Describe your studio practice and how it differs from (or is the same as) traditional notions of “being in the studio.”
My studio practice right now involves a lot of physical migration and travel. I have been attending and working at artist residencies for the past two and a half years. Additionally, my most recent bodies of work are representative of this nomadic way of living.
What unique roles do you see yourself as the artist playing that you may not have envisioned yourself in when you first started making art?
Many artists I know are amazing multi-taskers, evolve quickly, and are constantly asking questions. I suppose when I first started making work, I already knew this but was not fully aware of how necessary these characteristics are to maintaining a fluid practice. I have always had these characteristics ingrained within me.
When do you find is the best time of day to make art? Do you have time set aside every day, every week or do you just work whenever you can?
When in the studio, early mornings are my best time to make work. I get up at about 5:00am and start working in the studio by 6:00am or 7:00am. I work until afternoon, take a break, and then work until 5:00pm. I then spend the evenings working on administrative tasks or reading. My dog is my alarm clock and lets me know when it is time to take a break. She is very insistent, but kindly so.
Could you paint that campfire? … No, it is too beautiful., 2014, Gouache on wood panel, 8” x 8”
How has your work changed in the last five years? How is it the same?
In the past five years, my work has changed drastically in how I represent content and palette. How I consider the narrative structure of my work has evolved immensely. This said, my work has always concerned place in some manner, and I have always been interested in painterly concerns and materiality.
Are there people such as family, friends, writers, philosophers or even pop icons that have had an impact on the work you do?
Gaston Bachelard, Joseph Beuys, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Oskar Fischinger, Helen Frankenthaler, Caspar David Friedrich, Glenn Gould, Richard Feynman, Tine Lundsfryd, Agnes Martin, John Muir, Kelly Reichardt, W.G. Sebald, Alain Resnais, Hans Richter, Mark Rothko, Rumi, Sjón, Patti Smith, Rebecca Solnit, Rose Valland, Vladislav Vančura, Margaret Wertheim, and Jennifer West.
If you had an occupation outside of being an artist, what would that be and why?
I would be an explorer, farmer, physicist, Pomologist (Orchardist), Ornithologist, Special Collections or Children’s Librarian, mystic, or beekeeper. These professions concern my interests and regard my character. When the time comes, I plan on being a few of these, in tandem with being an artist. Some of these I will never become, but will continue to greatly admire.
About
Photo credit: Kyle Dubois, 2014
Born in the Southwestern United States, Stephanie Clark has lived nomadically for the majority of her life. She currently resides and works in Minneapolis, MN. Clark earned a Post-Baccalaureate from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts (2011), and a BFA with cum laude honors from The University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, North Dakota (2010).
She has been invited to and attended several residency programs including Norðanbál Gamli Skóli, Hrísey, Iceland (forthcoming 2015); Gullkistan, Laugarvatn, Iceland (forthcoming 2015); Artscape Gibraltar Point Centre for the Arts, Toronto Island, Toronto, ON, Canada (2014); Vermont Studio Center Residency, Johnson, Vermont (2014); Grin City Collective, Grinnell, Iowa (2013); Contemporary Artists Center at Woodside Residency, Troy, New York (2013); and The Homestead, Willow, Alaska (2012).In early 2015, her work will be featured on the front cover and back cover of the Chicago Review, Issue 59:1.
365 Artists | 365 Days 