ARTIST'S STATEMENT

MaryJo Clark

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Since childhood, art has been an integral part of my life. I have always enjoyed the creative process and have made the study and practice of art my life’s work; from my art making to my more than 30 years as an art educator.

 

Drawing has been the foundation of my artistic endeavors and, more recently, I have turned my attentions to design through the technique of collage,

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My collage pieces grew out of a lesson on shape and design that I had developed for my students. I became intrigued by the arrangement of shapes, colors and textures as elements for creating unique compositions. I think of this process as painting with paper. The papers that I use in my collages include wallpaper scraps, book pages, mulberry and tissue paper, and my own hand-printed and painted papers. In some cases I add embellishments of beads, tiles and/or other media, which provides a dimensional aspect to the design. I particularly enjoy expressing myself through the non-objective and abstract subject matter of these pieces that, in turn, evoke unique responses from each viewer.

 

My pastel paintings usually feature more representational subject matter. Pastel provides the perfect blend of drawing and painting, As the pastel medium uses the same pigments found in paint, the colors are as rich and vibrant as those found in many oil or acrylic paintings. Additionally, the stick form of pastel allows for the same qualities of mark making that I so enjoy about the drawing process.

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