Exploring the tension between physicality and ephemerality, Jillian Clark uses construction-grade chalk and a snapline tool to create floor to ceiling immersive installations. By the very nature of the material, her chalk drawings are often the fleeting result of a deeply personal mark-making methodology manipulated to each specific space. Every line builds with each trace and stain, having both a direct linear record and a residue that falls to the floor, becoming interconnected to the next, playing with the sensory understanding of the work. Initially only working with blue construction-grade chalk, she has expanded her visual vocabulary by incorporating other construction-grade chalks in orange, lavender, black, red, white as well as resin, which has served to protect the chalk from its own temporality. In reference to her audience, she says “I want them to feel the driving processes through observing the space and understanding their own personal reflections imbedded in each line,” which can be felt in both her large scale installations and intimate works on panel.

Jillian Clark was born in California. She is based in the Tri-State area and manages the woodshop for the exhibition’s team at the New Museum. Her work has been exhibited in group shows at Root Division in San Francisco in 2011, the Walsh Gallery at Seton Hall University in 2012, the Governor’s Island Art Fair in 2014 as well as in a solo show at the Bortolami Gallery in New York in 2013. She received her BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and her MFA from California College of the Arts in 2011.

CV

EDUCATION:
2011 - Master of Fine Arts, CALIFORNIA COLLEGE OF THE ARTS (CCA), San Francisco, CA - Concentration in Textiles
2009 - Bachelor of Fine Arts, RHODE ISLAND SCHOOL OF DESIGN (RISD), Providence, RI - Furniture Design & Construction

EXHIBITIONS:

2016
THE CRADDOCK TERRY GALLERY AT RIVERVIEWS ARTSPACE, Lynchburg, VA - Forthcoming Solo exhibition selected by curatorial committee

2015
Steam, Work + Labor, LILAC ART SERIES, New York, NY - Group exhibition curated by Alix Hornyan, Ashley Martin, and Melinda Wang

2014
GOVERNORS ISLAND ART FAIR, Governors Island, NY - Curated by 4heads
People’s Choice, THE GREENPOINT GALLERY, Brooklyn, NY - Group exhibition curated by Shawn James

2013
Room X, BORTOLAMI GALLERY, New York, NY - Emerging artist feature curated by Nicole Will

2012
Homemade Summer in Chinatown, 76 FORSYTH, New York, NY  - Salon-style two person exhibition curated by Nicole Will
Linear Thinking, WALSH GALLERY, South Orange, NJ - Group exhibition curated by Jeanne Brasile
Essex Under 35, PIERRO GALLERY, South Orange, NJ - Group exhibition juried by Rocío Aranda-Alvarado

2011
22nd Annual Juried Drawing Show: Residue, BOSTON CENTER FOR THE ARTS, Boston, MA - Group exhibition curated by Steven Holmes
Introductions 2011, ROOT DIVISION, San Francisco, CA - Emerging Artists exhibition juried by Linda Geary, Andres Guerrero, & René de Guzman
You Can’t Step in the Same River Twice, CCA: Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition, San Francisco, CA - Presentation in fulfillment of MFA degree, curated by Glen Helfand

2009
Network, NORTH SOUTH GALLERY, Oakland, CA - Juried textiles show, participant & member of the jury
Best of New England (BoNE) Show, AIGA, Boston, MA - Selected in recognition of the RISD Chace Center bench commission, juried by Alice Chung, Alan Dye, and Will McGinness
Bachelor of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition, WOODS GERRY GALLER, Providence, RI - Exhibition of final thesis collection in fulfillment of BFA degree

ACHIEVEMENTS:

2011
Finalist for the Toby Devan Lewis Fellowship, San Francisco, CA - Award recognizes MFA students nominated by faculty exhibiting exceptional promise as emerging visual artists
Recipient of Community Student Fellowship, Oakland, CA – 2010 through 2011 - Fellowship awarded at the Richmond Art Center through CCA’s Center for Art and Public Life
Recipient of Richard K. Price Scholarship, San Francisco, CA – 2009 through 2011 - Awarded for continuing graduate education in the arts

2010
Recipient of the Carolyn J. Springborn Fund Grant, Deer Isle, ME - Grant for technical assistant in residence in the wood shop at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts
Recipient of Summer Studio Assistant Scholarship, Layton, NJ - Scholarship for technical assistant in residence in the fiber studio at Peters Valley Craft Center

2008
Winner of Design Competition for the RISD’s Chace Center, Providence, RI - Designed, produced, and installed a custom set of twenty benches for RISD Chace Center’s Moore Terrace

BIBLIOGRAPHY: 

2016
Artinfo.com, Datebook: Jillian Clark and Gabrielle Duggan at Garis & Hahn http://www.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/1470740/datebook-jillian-clark-and-gabrielle-duggan-at-garis-hahn-new slideshow feature