Edward Clark

Artist Statement 2009

Edward Clark’s current sculptural work is based upon Living Coral Reefs. His hot blown sculptures represent different marine zones, from lagoon habitats to the outer barrier reefs. All fish, corals, invertebrates, and other living organisms depicted on theses reefs are based on those living species specific to the area they inhabit. Many sculptures are based on reefs in the Hawaiian Islands, where Clark calls home. Other sculptures have been made for site specific areas of the Caribbean, Great Barrier Reef in Australia, and the Red Sea. Each sculpture is a one-of-a-kind piece displaying a unique aspect of marine life. In one sculpture of the outer reef, a school of Manini, or Convict Surgeon fish, can be seen foraging the reef for algae. Meanwhile the Domino Damsels team up with the Raccoon Butterflies and together they attack the Marauding Surgeon fish in order to protect their home within the caves. Close to shore, in a lagoon sculpture, a group of Seahorses is found hiding beneath some macro algae. Nearby an Octopus slithers into clam shells for a feast. Occasionally a small reef shark will meander through the shallow depths to chase its lunch. In all these creative settings, a marine ecosystem comes to life through the sparkle of the hot glass. The glass medium highlights the parallels between the fragility of these intense ecosystems and the medium itself.

Edward Clark also produces intricate stemware, using traditional techniques to make new movements in stemware design. Fascinated by historical techniques, Clark utilizes classical cane, Murrinie and incalmo designs but assembles them, often with sculptures, to make contemporary pieces. Clark makes all his smaller (less than 12 inches) stemware solo in a process that can be traced back to the first known solo goblet maker, William Gudenrath. Clark does not use a furnace to complete his stemware. Instead, he uses a larger studio to make cane or color tubes as starters. He then makes use of a kiln and a glory hole to produce his stemware; a technique learned from Boyd Sugiki. Combining the processes of stemware creation and along with Edward’s intricate designs, a striking contemporary version of stemware is born.

Glass is the ultimate medium for sculpture. The immediacy of hot sculpted glass is not found in any other medium, or form of glass working. Glass is the melting pot of various materials found in the environment, mixed together, heated up, and manipulated. The sculpture begins when the molten puddle of glass within the furnace is carefully coaxed and worked by the artist. As the glass begins to solidify, it slowly takes on the form, color and design that previously existed only in the mind of its creator. Chemistry, physics, and imagination combine to form the final piece. Clark uses glass to show his thoughts on society, to tell a story, to define who he is and what he believes in. Yet he also recognizes that while he speaks through his work, the glass always speaks for itself and tells its own story about the struggle of creation.

In addition to his Bachelor of the Arts degree in the fine arts, sculptor Edward Clark has a Bachelor of Sciences degree in Marine Biology and Ecology, both from The Evergreen State College. His training in glass and fine art is complemented by his training as a coral taxonomist, ecologist, zoologist, and coral propagator. In his first years in Hawaii, at the Waikiki Aquarium he taught school children and other visitors about the underwater paradise off the coasts of the Hawaii’s magnificent beaches. The goal of his sculpture is to educate the world about two of the world’s treasures: the marine ecosystems, and the centuries-long tradition of artisan glass-blowing. He has combined his two loves to make a contemporary sculpture, and statement, entertaining and educating the world about the fragility of our marine environment.