statement

My drawings are glimpses into the natural world.  By observing the interaction of insects, animals and plant life in my backyard, I am drawn to life's transient moments of grace and beauty.

Human beings have deep evolutionary bonds with nature, both physical and metaphysical.  I hope that my quiet drawings will remind us of our place on this planet and awaken our consciousness to the larger cosmos of which we are a part – an idea described by Plato as anima mundi, soul of the world: "This world is indeed a living being endowed with a soul and intelligence … a single visible entity containing all other living entities which, by their nature, are all related."

My influences include the art of the Northern Renaissance – in particular, Netherlandish devotional panel paintings, Albrecht Dürer's plant and animal studies, and Joris Hoefnagel's illuminations of flora and fauna – the Japanese wabi-sabi aesthetic, and nature mysticism as expressed through various forms of art, music, poetry and prose.

bio

born: 1961, Bellefonte, Pennsylvania

education

Swarthmore College, BA, 1983

selected publications

Works & Conversations; No. 24, "The Action of Light." Berkeley, CA: Society for the ReCognition of Art, front cover and p. 15-19, April 2012
The Talbot Spy; "Spy Chat with Artist Rebecca Clark," by Kathy Bosin. Talbot County, MD: April 30, 2012
Studio Visit; volume 14. The Open Studio Press, back cover and p. 38-39, 2011
Haiku on the Sparrow; Illustrations by Rebecca Clark, Introduction by Michael Bell.  Alexandria, VA: Violet Press, 2010, ISBN 978-0-9800394-4-3

selected solo or two-person exhibits

Piermont Straus: Rebecca Clark: Animal Nature, Piermont, NY, 2013
Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art: Rebecca Clark (curated by William Willis), Augusta, GA, 2013
Academy Art Museum: Anima Mundi: Drawings by Rebecca Clark, Easton, MD, 2012
Hillyer Art Space: Rebecca Clark: Bee Lines, Washington, DC, 2011

selected group shows

The Silber Gallery: Insectology, Goucher College, Towson, MD, 2011
Union of Concerned Scientists: Thoreau's Legacy: Humans and Our Habitat, Washington, DC, 2010
Sam Lee Gallery: Backyard, Los Angeles, CA, 2009
Dumbo Arts Center: All Sentient Beings, Brooklyn, NY, 2006