Robert P. Clarke is a new media artist using photography, video, sound, digital media, drawing and performance. His main influences are figurative works, everyday life and capturing a moment or action. Clarke has exhibited widely in the United Kingdom in Galleries and has been published internationally in art books.
https://www.curatorspace.com/artists/RPClarke
Self-taught or art school?
I studied BA (Hons) Fine Art at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston from 1995 to 1998. Since leaving university I have been actively creating art, exhibiting widely and publishing books.
If you could own one work of art what would it be?
I already own quite a collection of art ranging from limited edition signed books by artists to original prints signed on the plate by Picasso. A lot of people mistakenly think original pieces of art are out of the reach of their buying options, but there is a lower end of the art market that is affordable and accessible to everyone.
Also, viewing methods of creating art from historical artists for the art market is useful for learning and creating editions and limited-edition work as contemporary artists practising in this day and age.
How would you describe your style?
My main influences are figurative works, everyday life and capturing a moment or action. I like to explore themes on a conceptual level and draw themes from life, so my work is quite personal and intimate, but my work can also relate to broader themes and subjects which are happening in the world now.
Based on this broad-spectrum, my style is quite simple, if I can use just one line to express my creative thoughts I will, but I also like to work in different mediums to add layers to my work and build up narrative content on other projects.
Is narrative important within your work?
Narrative is essential in all my work; there are two strands, visual narrative and spoken narrative. I want to take the viewer into a story where the viewer can relate to key aspects of my works. It is important to me that the viewer can relate to them in some way, from their own experiences.
With my visual work, particularly my shadow images and figurative work, I want the viewer to be able to either step into the picture as if they are there themselves or to relate with empathy to the figurative personalities that are presented to the viewer.
With my spoken work, particularly my poetry and written work for my hypnotic film visuals, I want to present the viewers with experience with ideas, thoughts and concepts and to allow the listeners to contemplate and think about what I present to them.
Who are your favourite artists and why?
This has to be Picasso and Marcel Duchamp. These are the two greatest artists of the 20th century and were both vastly different in their approach to creating work, Picasso created work on a personal and intimate level and Marcel Duchamp created work on a conceptual level.
More recently, I do appreciate video and installation artists like Bill Viola, Peter Greenaway and Jane and Louise Wilson, and in sculpture, I absolutely adore the scale and proportions in Anthony Gormley’s work from the large scale to the small scale and the gallery pieces to the varying different locations where his public sculptural installations are sited.
What or who inspires your art?
I work on two main themes, figurative work and conceptual work and relate both these back to a general theme, everyday life. I am inspired by the body and capturing a movement, moment or action in my work, both in my drawings, printmaking and shadow, reflection and silhouette photography and use my own body and voice through spoken word in performance and video.
Also, working with the general theme of everyday life, I often create works that reflect on wider issues that affect us all like the environment and climate change. My work often tries to include these general themes as part of the wider event, while my work is presented on a more personal level.
Where’s your studio and what’s it like?
My studio is based in the @arthouse.wakefield and can be found on Facebook. It is located in a former Carnegie Library opposite Wakefield Westgate railway station central in Wakefield. The space is both modern but also has an old feel to it. I have one of the smaller studios in The Art House, Wakefield, but I make use of the space to include areas for work and some space for storing current projects I am working on.
What are you working on currently?
Current running themes include working with graphic line drawings and taking these into photography in a lively and playful way. Also, I have been creating a series of short films which includes spoken word, presented in a poetic, dream-like audio-visual experience for the viewer. Recent films explore various journeys, another reoccurring theme running through my work, and most recently, I have been linking my short films and poetry back into my performance art as well.
Where can we buy your art?
You can follow Robert P. Clarke on social media @artartcollab and view artworks at www.artroam.com
