We were lucky to catch up with Clark Valentine recently and have shared our conversation below.

Clark, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

Part of my artistic practice involves collaboration with artists from around the world. I am a founding member of the I Found U Collective. Since 2020, our nine artists (who live on four different continents) have worked together to create collaborative projects which investigate the social and political dynamics of our current digital world. In June of 2023, I spent nearly a month in Soriano, Uruguay, via invitation from the Department of Culture. While there, I worked with I Found U artists to build a collaborative installation titled “La Tormenta.” This installation will be on view through early 2024 at the Museo Maeso in Villa Soriano, Uruguay.

This project took nearly thirteen months to coordinate and involved artists working both in-person and remotely. Our goal was to create a ‘storm’ that was symbolic of the social and physical upheaval our world has experienced over the past four years. Our tornado both acknowledges the disassembling of previous structures while celebrating the unforeseen re-assembling of new ideas and energies as a result of our increasingly connected world.

“La Tormenta” is one of many examples of I Found U’s dedication to co-operation and interconnectedness. Each of our projects carries a strong theme of access and inclusion on a global level. I count myself grateful to be able to engage in ongoing artistic discussions with so many great artists from around the world.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Clark Valentine and I am an artist and Assistant Professor of Drawing at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Originally from Colorado Springs, Colorado, I received my MFA from Colorado State University. I have shown my work at universities, museums, and galleries on five continents and widely throughout the US.

My work explores the phenomenological experience of mark making. In my drawings, each mark becomes a unique repetition of the mark before it. Over time, the disruptions of the hand change the marks and the drawing takes itself in new directions. These variations of the marks become key compositional features. The process of drawing then becomes a balance between an active meditation of the mind and a passive response of the hand. In the making process, I seek to find moments of stillness where it feels as though my hand is moving on its own, responding to the needs of the drawing.

I am seeking a place of contemplative awareness, where my actions appear to become a passive response to the environment of the drawing. Through my studies of mysticism— the personal, experiential practice of spirituality—I am seeking a spiritual and mental state of stillness which is sought in nearly every religious tradition. Referencing Christian mystical traditions as well as Daoist traditions, these drawings become a record of time spent in silent contemplation. The slow, intentional movement of the body becomes integral to the work. Each mark becomes a piece of information, alluding not only to the time spent, but to my physical, mental, and spiritual experience in that moment.

In addition to my drawing practice, I am a founding member of the I Found U Collective – a group of nine artists, from four continents who are committed to discussion and collaboration as we create projects focused on global sociological, political and environmental concerns.

In the past year, my exhibitions include a solo exhibition of my drawings at the Centro Cultural Nacional in Dolores, Uruguay and a collaborative project at the University of Melbourne, in Melbourne, Australia. Additionally, in the last year I have completed two artist residencies – first in Mannheim, Germany, followed by one in Villa Soriano, Uruguay. Additionally, I have artworks included in the permanent loan collection at King’s College Cambridge, as well as in the Heintzman Collection, which is pledged to the Peoria Riverfront Museum.

As a professor, I am grateful to have the opportunity to bring my research into the classroom as I work with emerging artists, helping them to find their voice and create their place within the ever-expanding Contemporary Art World. As much as I love my own studio-practice, I find so much joy as I both teach and learn from my students. My classroom becomes a place of discovery as my students get to explore the vastness of their own creative minds.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Just recently, I was slowly working my way through the small book “How to Relax” by Thich Nhat Hanh. The late monk and activist shares that we, as humans, have the opportunity to become “bells of mindfulness” to one another. He is referring to the simple chime of meditation bells which bring a practitioner’s attention to the present moment during a time of contemplation. As I read this, I felt a deep resonance between the Thich Nhat Hanh’s words and the goal I have in my drawing practice.

I believe that the gallery is a sacred space – a place of ritual. When we enter the gallery, we are invited to enter a state of increased sensitivity and awareness. As we look closely, we reflect on the world from a place of removal. We are able to ask and answer questions of ourselves and society through the lens of another’s creative expression. Through the exhibition of my drawings, I create the opportunity for the gallery to become a temple of mindfulness. Each drawing, created through the simple repetition of lines, has the chance to become a bell of mindfulness, slowing my viewer down, bringing them to a place of quiet stillness.

I choose to draw simple forms, created with ubiquitous materials, to build artworks which elicit a humble and quiet beauty. When we encounter moments like this in life, we are able to relax into the present moment where, as Thich Nhat Hahn says, we “become calm water and reflect reality as it is.” Maybe as one leaves the sacred gallery space, they can take this peace with them and become a bell of mindfulness to those whom they encounter next.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

As an educator, I often encounter students who believe that creativity is some sort of divine gift… some people have it, other’s don’t. I think this limiting belief permeates many areas of education, but it is overwhelming in the creative fields. I am someone who came to art well into my university experience. I did not grow up dreaming of becoming an artist or drawing my entire life. As I was finding myself in college, I discovered that art allowed me to ask questions about spirituality that I could not ask in other areas of my life. I then had to work very hard to develop the muscles of creative thinking, and build the skills of craftsmanship over time.

In many of the classes I teach, I use a process called ‘ideation,’ which is a major part of design thinking. The basic premise of ideation teaches that one comes to the best quality idea only through a massive quantity of ideas. If I can teach a student to work through dozens (or even hundreds) of ideas, there is a high probability that one of them is going to be great! Even more important, ideation teaches that creativity is a muscle that when exercised, grows for everyone.

I have had the opportunity to see first-hand how the development of this muscle has opened doors for many of my students. Not only does this method of teaching show people that they can pursue a creative path, but it also shows that they can take creative thinking into traditionally ‘non-creative’ fields and solve problems in new and exciting ways. I take great pride in the moments when my students realize that they have the choice to become a creative person.

As I grow and develop myself as an educator, I think that this way of teaching is becoming increasingly important, because it provides agency and equity to students who are in the process of finding themselves. The times we live in often feel like we are lacking a greater meaning and I think this view of creativity reminds us that we can choose every day to construct the meaning we wish to see in ourselves and the world.     

Contact Info:

• Website: Clarkvalentinefineart.com
• Instagram: @clark_valentine_fine_art
• Collaborative work: Ifounducollective.com

Image Credits
Andrés Boero, Clark Valentine