To Capture Dynamic Emotional Landscapes, Joseph Clarke Works With Destruction

To make his work — canvases of bright, glossy color, rippling with complex folds — Joseph Clarke channels one primary energy: destruction. Not of the smashing vases, tearing apart drywall variety, but something a bit more peaceful; letting go.

“I’m really trying to channel destruction into creation, which is complicated. It’s not always easy to do, because in order to destroy, you really have to let go. So I’m sort of in a constant back and forth, letting go of this work at the same time that I’m making it.”

To back things up, Clarke is a Litchfield County local. Raised in Lakeville, Conn., Clarke completed undergrad at Northwestern Connecticut Community College in Winsted, Conn., and graduated from Hartford Art School in 2018 with his MFA. Clarke’s work is currently on display at The Gallery at Founders' Hall at NWCC as part of the Alumni Focus Series.

Though he has many years of artistic training and work under his belt, the pieces on display at Founders Hall are still new to Clarke in some ways. Intensely process-driven, they arose from a moment of perfect frustration and material constraint. A few years back, Clarke had been storing his undergraduate work in his older, much smaller studio space, to the extent that it felt like the canvases might bury him.

“So eventually, I was pissed. I was like, ‘I don’t like this work anymore. I need new work. Material is expensive.’ So I started just ripping paintings off of stretcher bars, and I’m just throwing them behind me, moving on to the next one. Eventually, I stopped and I turned around, and there’s just a pile of crumpled up canvases behind me. And I’m like, this is so much more interesting than like any of these paintings.”

Capturing that moment, preserving it in amber, was at first a logistical problem. How would one make a material stay, durably, in the shape of a crumpled-up canvas? The moment of connection came at home, using materials his father [Mark Clarke of Clarke Outdoors in Cornwall, Conn.] had in the garage as a handyman and amateur boat maker: epoxy resin and wall paint. From there, Clarke was able to develop a technique that retained shape, color, and gloss perfectly — and though not every piece comes out to his satisfaction, the newer direction to his artistic practice has been invigorating.

Describing the work as abstract, Clarke is aware of the degree to which an observer of his art might not find in them the exact same depths he brings to each piece, and that’s okay. He has a strong aversion to artist statements (“the work is already saying what I want to say”) and an ultimate desire for his art to provoke genuine emotion and connection with a viewer. His personal, artistic goal, however, is to capture emotional movement through the landscape of the canvas. Labeling them “action sculptures,” the process of creation is therefore just as important, if not more important, than outcome.

“With abstract work like this, I’m really working for the moment. I’m not super concerned about what happens at the end, I just love being in there… In that state, the work sort of just makes itself. You’re there, and you’re a tool, but something else is going on that’s allowing creation.”

Peering together at photos on his phone — his work had already been installed — he described one piece as successful for the way in which a particular series of folds seemed to capture perfectly the wake of a fist. In another, it was the fashion by which a flatter, calmer bridge between two chaotic zones balanced the landscape of pastel-pink rumples.

In the naturally lit, well ventilated, and somewhat cold studio space (perfect for managing paint fumes) attached to the Fire Department in Kent, Conn., Clarke was inviting and conversational. Self described as non-confrontational, the reservoirs of destructive and chaotic energy channeled into his work are not necessarily plain for all to see — a contradiction he spoke to as integral to his process.

“I don’t even wear much color! It’s like I’m channeling all these things I don’t allow myself. They’re there, you just can’t see them.”

A drummer and a skateboarder to boot, Clarke’s work and hobbies seem to require of him the ability to simultaneously transcend and work from within his frustration. The end result is a kind of zen chaos, a lens that when applied to his work, serves to amplify its impact.

“Something I learned in school is you should never have both feet in your comfort zone. You’ve always gotta be somewhere uncomfortable and unsure, cause that’s where the action happens.  It’s chaos, when you’re in the creative state. It’s not all butterflies and unicorns. It’s nitty-gritty. You come in here and you fight for your life.”

An artist reception will be held on Thursday, March 23, from 4 to 6 p.m. at The Gallery at Founders Hall at Northwestern Connecticut Community College.

Royal Blue II by Joseph Clarke Photo courtesy the artist

Royal Blue II by Joseph Clarke Photo courtesy the artist