INTERVIEW QUESTIONNAIRE
LINDEN NEW ART
Questions: Josephine Harkin - Communications and Marketing Coordinator
Answers: Wade Gregory Clark
Where were you born? Melbourne Where did you grow up? Eltham (Hurstbridge train line), just down the road from the old artist colony Montsalvat. What suburb do you live in? I currently live in Ormond which is around 15mins from Melbourne CBD. Is there something unique about you or your story that you are happy to share? Having worked as a commercial illustrator the past 15 years creating art for Pinball and slot machines, I must have created hundreds of different themed artworks on glass with back lighting... However, it has really only been this year that I've started to explore the method of backlit artworks and it’s possibilities in my contemporary art practice, which has thus far received a lot of interest. What do you listen to whilst working in your studio (music/radio station/podcast)? Mostly Classical music during the day & Jazz at night… Some 80s-90s hip hop. l'm also a big listener of podcasts, which are mostly Art, design, Science and history related. Who is your favourite artist and why? Tough question... as i have a few. Rembrandt. Goya, his 'black series' gripped it's claws into me long ago and it still continues to influence my work. Another favourite is Frans Hals, with his energetic bold brush work and ability to capture his sitters in transience moments, Whenever I see his paintings in Museums they blow my mind. What inspires you to make art? My inspiration to make art comes from need to share experiences but in pictures, rather than words. Ever since I was a very young child i've been very visual, drawing was an innate compulsion or necessity for me to communicate. I recall one instance where my primary school teacher kept reprimanding me because I would keep drawing pictures of objects rather then using words, I would create my own type of hieroglyphics.
What inspired this artwork? The titles and lyrics of songs also inspire me. This years artwork was actually inspired by 'Goodbye horses' by Q Lazarus, now a cult classic after it featured in the film 'The Silence of the Lambs' it's plays in the background of the famous scene when the creepy serial killer Buffalo Bill is dancing with his genitals between his legs, Ha ha CREEPY... But the song itself is actually quite beautiful with mysterious lyrics that for me conjures up ideas surrounding the notion of sameness, tribal commonality and the desires within to ascend. According to the songs author William Garvey, "the song is actually about transcendence over those who see the world as only earthly and finite”. The horse represents the five senses from Hindu philosophy (The Bhagavad Gita) and the ability to lift one’s perception above these physical limitations". My artwork displays a white horse, my symbol of mental compliance and spiritual obedience. The horse races through a dark void and is captured in gallop whilst leaving a trail of dust covered geometric matter, the matter is a reference to human behaviour. Similar to the meaning behind the song i’m attempting to question the relevance of our physical existence over that of our spiritual reality, Perhaps this moment is as close as this horse will ever get to ascend above ascendancy?
How many times have you entered the Linden Postcard Show? This is my forth time If the first time, why? - If you enter regularly, why? I've always enjoyed the whole idea of the restricted size (postcard size) of the artworks. I also like that Linden has a openness to community participation within the arts and their antique gallery space is just beautiful.
Artist: Wade Gregory Clark Title: 'Goodbye Horses I'm flying over you' Year: 2015 Description: Backlit Digital Painting: Printed with Archival UV Pigment Ink on Kodak UV backlit film and mounted onto 10mm Perspex. Frame Size: Height 20cm x Width 26cm (Raw Wood) Artwork Size: Height 11cm x Width 16cm Special Edition: The artwork is illuminated through the use of back-lighting powered by a 12volt rechargeable battery. The image has been painted digitally and then printed onto film using archival inks then mounted onto a thick heavyweight Perspex. This particular piece is a one of a kind size (edition 1 of 1 ) and was especially created for the Linden Postcard show. The artwork comes with a battery and a battery recharging cable and adapter power supply cord for a wall power socket.