Burns Visual Arts Society » Elizabeth Clark

Elizabeth Clark Images

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 23:27:42 +0000

Elizabeth Clark 1947 – 2008

Louise Williamson and I had the honour of sorting through the contents of Elizabeth Clark’s studio today, April 2, 2008, at her husband’s request. As fellow members of a studio cooperative, the Burns Visual Arts Society, we were familiar with each other’s working methods and space. Yet to enter the studio of a beloved friend in her profound absence was, unexpectedly, soothing.

Although Elizabeth had been ill for some time, her sudden passing on March 10 came as a shock to everyone. I like to think that an artist who had been fascinated by roadside shrines would want to incorporate the single white rose or the stem of hydrangia left on her studio door, into a new construction. Perhaps she is.

Elizabeth was an immensely curious and creative individual whose range of knowledge was as diverse as it was extensive. Not surprisingly, her studio reflected her eclectic imagination. Traditional art supplies were interspersed with the raw materials for her tongue-in-cheek constructions: X-rays, rear-view mirrors, Christmas lights, tampons, wind up dentures … The most touching was a small pair of rubber boots still sticky with white glue near a container of gummy bears, a work-in-progress from her “Gumboots” series.

Primarily a sculptor, Elizabeth, created fantastic (in the literal sense) garments to clothe, and comment upon, the body. “Chore Girl,” a ball gown fashioned entirely from copper scrub pads, hung in one corner. “Smoking Jacket,” constructed from lung X-rays carefully stitched together wasn’t there but some of the bustier series were. A favourite of mine was a red bustier created from a roll of tickets aptly named “Admit One.”

Much of this work had been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions throughout Alberta and in her home province of Quebec (Montreal). Other work is housed in public collections such as the Alberta Foundation for the Arts or is privately owned.

Among the working notes and sketches in her studio there were botanical studies, printouts on obscure cameras, class notes from the Alberta College of Art where we first met as students 25 years ago. Elizabeth graduated in 1984 followed by a BFA from Concordia in Montreal in the 1990s. As a mature student with a zany sense of humour, Elizabeth thrived on the stimulating interaction of young people both at art school and in the workplace: Stewart Hall in Montreal, the Triangle Gallery, Nickle Arts Museum, and Glenbow Museum in Calgary.

Indeed she enjoyed life in its many and varied forms. We found dog treats stashed away for her 4-footed companions. Basil was her favourite. That quirky dog could meet, greet (and serendipitously remove her earrings) in his exuberant, soft-mouthed welcome.

Sorting through the studio of this talented, generous and compassionate artist was bittersweet. We thank her husband, Desmond – who was kept busy loading the van with Elizabeth’s constructions, maquettes, drawings, monoprints and image transfers – for entrusting us with this privilege.

Her friends and colleagues are working toward sharing her creativity and joie de vivre in a retrospective exhibition, tentatively called “An Elizabethan Moment.” We welcome your comments and suggestions.

Respectfully, Bev Tosh

Elizabeth Clark CV

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 23:19:39 +0000

Elizabeth Clark 1947 – 2008

DOCUMENTATION / PUBLICATIONS

PUBLICATIONS

SEE Magazine, Edmonton, May 23 to 31st/06, “Ladies on Lady/ Six Calgary Artist
re=imagine the Statue of Liberty”

Catalogue: Art Gallery of Calgary -Popular by Curator Kristin Evenden, 2006

Calgary Herald, “Scratch Culture- Popular Graffiti Coincides with Popular Art”
by Christopher Willard, January 14, 2006

Saint City News, St. Albert, July 29, 2005 P.32, “Try this on for Size”
by Darrell Winwood

The St. Albert Gazette, July 30, 2005 P. 15, “ Last Art Walk of the Summer Laces Up”
by Susan Jones

The Edmonton Sun, August 14, 2005, St. Albert Art Walk 2005,

Calgary Straight, March 16-23, 2000 “Precious Metals – Celebrating 25 Years of
Artist-run Culture at The New Gallery “ by Patricia Robertson.

Catalogue: Parallel Lines, November , 2000 – BVAS and Leighton Residence

The Gazette , Montreal , Friday July 24, 1998 C12. “Abstract Ceramics and
Garments Galore” by Dorota Kozinska

The Chronicle, Wednesday, July 15, 1998 C10. “Clothing, ceramics take
centre stage at Stewart Hall.”

Vie des Arts Magazine, Automne 1998, No. 172, P. 70 “Rires et Libertes”
by Marine Van Hoof

TV AND RADIO PUBLICITY:-

- CBC Radio – interview on “Crossover: Clothing as Metaphor” with
Fiona Downy/ July23, 1998 for Homestretch.

- CBC Radio -interview on”Crossover: Clothing as Metaphor” with Fiona Downy
aired in Western Canada on CBC 2 during the week of August/98.

- CBC TV coverage for “Crossover: Clothing as Metaphor”
Montreal City Beat, July24/98.

ART PRACTICE
Elizabeth Clark

EXHIBITION HISTORY
Erotic , group exhibition, Artpoint Gallery, Calgary, 2006
Taking Liberties, group show, Harcourt Gallery , Edmonton, 2006
Popular, group exhibition, Art Gallery of Calgary, 2005-2006
Dress Code, solo exhibition, Profiles Public Art Gallery, St Albert, 2005
Moulin Rouge Exhibition, Profiles Public Art Gallery fundraiser, 2005
Taking Liberties, group show at Red Deer’s Cultural Centre Art Gallery,2004
Burns Visual Arts Society Open Houses, Calgary from 1997 – 2005
Illusive Images, Profiles Public Art Gallery, St. Albert, 2003
Stride Gallery, “Bestiary”, Calgary, 2002
Death by Chocolate, Palliser Hotel Fundraiser for Street Kids, Calgary, 2002
The Art Gallery of Calgary’s Traveling Education Program, Calgary, 2002
The New Gallery Fund-raiser, Calgary, 2001
Parallel Lines, Leighton Centre, 2000
Photo Freeze and Fondue, The New Gallery, 2000
25th Anniversary Exhibition, The New Gallery, Calgary, 2000
Stride “s Exquisite Corpse Exhibition, Calgary 1999
Winter Solstice, The New Gallery, 1999 – Calgary
Clothing as Metaphor, The New Gallery , October 1998- Calgary
Crossover: Clothing as Metaphor, The Stewart Hall Art Gallery, July 1998- Pointe Claire, Que.
Winter Solstice, The New Gallery, 1998
Tradition Transformed, Triangle Gallery of Visual Arts,, 1997
Opening Salon Exhibition at Deacon Ulrich Gallery, Calgary 1995
Triangle Exhibition at City Hall, and +15 in Calgary Performing Arts Center, Calgary, 1994
Stewart Hall Cultural Centre, Pointe Claire, Quebec, 1993
Concordia V.A. Gallery( 2 person Exhibition) Montreal, 1993
Concordia V.A. Gallery Sculpture Exhibition, Montreal, 1992

AWARDS
Alberta Foundation for the Arts Visual Project Grant 2005
Alberta Foundation for the Arts Visual Arts Project Grant 1998
Alberta Culture Travel Grant 1985

COLLECTIONS
Alberta Foundation for the Arts
Private Collections

EDUCATION
Bachelor of Fine Arts, Concordia University, Montreal, 1994
CMA Certificate in Museology, (LDL program), 1992
Diploma in Painting, Alberta College of Art and Design, 1984

MEMBERSHIPS
Alberta Society of Artists 2003 to present
Burns Visual Arts Society 1985 to present
The New Gallery

Elizabeth Clark Statement

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 23:06:59 +0000

Artist Statement

Clothing as Metaphor

Exploring the human condition and social interaction is the basis for my
artwork. Vehicles used to express these personal observations have been
printmaking, photography, photo image transfer, and construction of three
dimensional objects from appropriated materials.

Due to an interest in people, their interaction with each other and the
environment, reference to figurative imagery has always been a focus for
my art. From painting I moved to a three dimensional method of exploration
which has taken the form of non-functional clothing. This clothing has become
a metaphor for the human body and a vehicle with which to explore the human
condition and social interaction.

Like figurative art, clothing is a form of visual fiction. Clothes are connective
links in a creative tradition of image making. They are illusion, masquerade,
idealized visualization of the human body. Clothing communicates social
status, occupation, personality, hides flaws, arouses feelings, acts as a barrier
or buffer from the environment, is a second skin. Clothing announces identity.

Appropriated, found and non-traditional materials are used to create these
artworks. A menopause dress created from ice gel packs and installed in a
refrigerator, a man’s business shirt created from business cards , and a
smoking jacket from chest X-rays are just a few examples of such artworks.
The artworks explore paradox and irony.

Humour is an important component in the work, sometimes not immediately
apparent but often a result of the transformation of the viewer’s visual
perception which occurs during closer interaction with the artworks. Found
images also are used in my work and are paired in Polaroid photo image
transfers with unlikely clothing imagery creating a different and sometimes
provocative context for the found images.

Other non-traditional fabrications of clothing include constructions using
stuffed animals and clothing built from soft metals such as steel wool and
copper pot scrubbers. These items of clothing are symbols for social identity.
Tongue-in-cheek titles will allow the viewer access-through humour-to
deeper levels of social commentary. Often there is a slight edge to the piece
that when discovered stimulates thought and public dialogue.

By constructing clothing I am able to explore different aspects of social identity.
This is an ongoing interest and usually results in new works each year based
on this method of exploration.