Lisa Kyle Clark
What are your earliest memories of being artistic? Kindergarten, crayons on construction paper. I featured red & black back then.
When did art become a pursuit? Grade School
Are you self-taught or formally educated in visual art? Masters in Visual Art
Vector I, Mixed: Acrylic, paper, pastel
In what other ways are you involved in the local art community? Newburyport Art Association, classes and local group of colleagues with whom I share space in Amesbury.
What role do you think the artist plays in society? Not only providing a lens through which to look at our world, but to begin an important dialogue. Everyone experiences a work differently, and has a different emotional response. Artists can change ways of thinking. As the Trancendentalists challenged Religion, Modernism offered a new view after the First World War in an effort to survive the horror. If you’ll notice, popular communities, whether Asheville, NC or the East Village are generally places where artists have come to create something worth exploring, even beauty on the streets. Then the real estate is priced right out of their budgets, and they find a new, maybe raw, place to set up camp again and turn it into a creative and alive draw. Ironically, money follows art.
What medium do you currently work in and how did you choose this medium? I work in pastels, acrylic, charcoal, collage and newsprint.
Trinidad, Cuba, Acrylic
What is your creative process? Where are you finding ideas for your art these days? Geometry.
How do you choose your subject matter? Is there a reoccurring theme that carries throughout your work? Intrigued by the relationship of geometry and man-made form to the natural and organic world around us, my work is conceived by layering paper, print images, paint and pastel.
I might choose subject matter that could be considered mundane, like industrial forms or telephone wires, but I appreciate how they relate to their landscape and environment. I work in a variety of mediums, sometimes simultaneously. I allow traces of previous marks to appear from beneath, forming a moving conversation between past and present. The edges can remain rough, to create distinct lines and highlight angles or larger forms. A word or a photographic element may add to a more complex narrative, beyond the first glance. My interest is in what lies beneath. My years designing books became a foundation for my visual art, often incorporating text; I have begun my newest series of paintings about the Mississippi Delta and its rich multi-faceted culture, held together by a muddy river and its profound history.
In your opinion, what’s your best/favorite piece you’ve made? Right now, Trinidad, Cuba.
In the Pocket, Mixed: Acrylic, paper, pastel
What is one of your artistic goals? To keep mastering my use of color and light.
What’s your favorite place to see art? Absolutely everywhere. Museums, people’s houses, or in a puddle.
What living artists are you inspired by?
Renée Stout
David Hammonds
Chiaru Shiota
Yayoi Kusama
Do you have any shows coming up? Newburyport Art Association and maybe Vermont. I’ll hear soon for a juried show.
See More Lisa!
Website: lisakyleclark.com
Instagram: lkyleclark
Facebook: lisa.clark