Brian Clark

BiographyAs a sculptor, Brian Clark is inspired by his northern Native heritage, especially the wilderness around Fort McMurray. A self-taught artist with Cree and European ancestry, his art has an elegant simplicity that evokes the curved lines, rhythms and organic shapes found in nature. Whether his subject matter is animal or human, a sculpture by Clark is often composed of only a few essential elements. On his own, he has studied and admired the work of Native, Inuit and British Columbia artists.

Trained originally as an electrician with sixteen years of working in the oil patch, Clark’s practice began by painting, drawing and making prints in his spare time. Carving came later in the mid-1980s, first with wood and then with harder materials like soapstone, alabaster, greenstone, marble and jade. His understated style and fine craftsmanship quickly earned him an audience and within a decade Clark was working full-time on his art.

The artist has exhibited widely in western Canada, New York and Charleston, SC. Commissioned work has also played a significant role in his practice including award sculptures for sporting events such as the Stanley Cup (1988) and seven life-size bison for The Syncrude Bison Gateway Project (Fort McMurray, 1995).