Jordan Clark

Jordan Clark was born in 1983 in Dubuque, Iowa, and raised in Madison, Wisconsin. In 2012, he earned an Associate Degree in Graphic Design and Illustration from Madison College. He furthered his education, obtaining a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art with a concentration in painting from the University of Wisconsin-Stout in Menomonie, Wisconsin, in 2015. In 2017, he completed his MFA in Contemporary Art Practices at Portland State University.

Primarily a painter, Clark also works across various mediums, including sculpture, photography, drawing, mural painting, printmaking, graphic design, typography, and bookmaking.

Beyond his studio practice, Clark enjoys playing and watching sports, biking, visiting galleries, and photographing freight trains and dilapidated structures. He currently resides in Portland, Oregon.


Artist Statement

My work combines a mixture of paint, recorded imagery, physical movement, and the process of layering, masking, and revealing. Along with recording and responding to a specific line of resources, I am developing a language through manipulating materials.

The evidence of physical engagement shows part of this response and interpretation. Through painting, I begin to zoom in and pay attention to specific edges and how the paint will sit, bleed, or spread on the surface.

The spaces created within the paintings are informed by the colors, shapes, and lines found in my experiences with architecture, graphic design, sports, commercial painting/graffiti removal, public transit, Google Maps, American freight trains, and the nuances and limitations of digital drawing.

While this body of work is inspired by these collages of source materials and exercises, the finished paintings are constructed through the practice of painting and the obstacles created along the way.


www.jordanjclark.com