ARTIST'S STATEMENT

MaryJo Clark

​

As a mixed media collage artist, I am drawn to the process of arranging textures, colors, and forms through the layering process to create abstract compositions in which familiar elements evolve into new and ambiguous imagery, inviting viewers to make their own connections with each piece.

Using a combination of found materials, handmade papers, printed photos, paints, and 3-D elements, I explore themes of stylized landscapes, cityscapes and botanicals, as well as non-objective abstractions. My process is both deliberate and intuitive, involving cutting, tearing, layering, and reworking until a piece feels balanced and harmonious.

When choosing to work more representationally, I create pastel paintings, as the medium provides the perfect blending of drawing and painting. The rich, vibrant colors allow for blending and layering, and the stick form of pastel allows for the same qualities of mark making that I so enjoy about the drawing process.

 

Ultimately, my work is an invitation to pause and look deeper—to engage with the distinctions of surface and space, and to feel a sense of curiosity.

​