GILLIAN CLARKE
Gillian uses many different media to explore her ideas. These include painting, drawing, collage, printing and ceramics. Ideas, too, are many and varied; for example, finding inspiration in the natural world, the pressure on young people, particularly in this digital world, to look certain way, and trying to find humour in an often bleak world.
Ceramic work includes reduction fired pieces using porcelain, paperclay and stoneware. Also, a variety of alternative firing techniques, such as raku, saggar firing and obvara give unexpected and surprising results. Every day Gillian is amazed and stimulated by the richness and beauty of the natural world; by the flora and fauna, the strata, textures and colours of cliffs, rocks and sand. New work will include incorporating local sand, clay, stones, shells, soil and plants into sculptural pieces. She tries to push the boundaries of different media, often with disastrous results!
Collage and painting are frequently combined. Gillian hopes through humour and pathos to enable the onlooker to see everyday life in a new way. Using scale and juxtaposition, the normal and mundane becomes new and intriguing. Spontaneity and joy in creating sometimes takes precedence over thinking about meaning or results. She does not try to produce “art”.
Recent work includes using printing ink and a roller to explore the richness of colour and shape for their own sakes, hopefully producing pieces of beauty and serenity.
