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.

 

My collage pieces are the main focus of my artistic work. As I got into the making of mixed media collage, 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 both a variety of found papers as well as 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.

 

I also continue to pursue my love of drawing through my pastel paintings, which usually feature more representational subject matter. Pastel provides the perfect blend of drawing and painting, The pastel medium uses the same pigments found in oil and acrylic paint, while also lending itself to the mark making that I so enjoy about the drawing process.

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