BIOGRAPHY
Ty Nathan Clark is a multi-disciplinary expressionist based in Waco, Texas. His practice explores memory and personal narrative through painting, mixed media, sculpture, and fiber art. Working with unconventional materials including ash, fibers, cement, and handwritten poetry sewn into textile, Clark creates large-scale works that reach up to twenty feet.
His work has been exhibited at Delaware Contemporary Museum, Art Center Waco Museum, and Goss-Michael Foundation. Clark was selected for Marfa Invitational 2025, a significant milestone in his career trajectory. Culture Trip named him one of ten contemporary artists in Austin to watch in both 2017 and 2019.
Clark's artistic education includes studying under renowned Japanese-American abstract painter Makoto Fujimura and American sculptor William Catling. His early artistic development was profoundly influenced by his uncle, Conway "Jiggs" Pierson, the world-renowned sculptor and Raku artist, beginning at age four.
Having lived and created across five continents and over twenty countries, Clark's global perspective deeply informs his visual practice. In 2021, he founded the Ty Nathan Clark Artist Mentorship Program, which has guided 76+ artists across 22 countries.
Clark has been represented and exhibited across the US, Canada and Eastern/Western Europe.
ARTIST STATEMENT
I am a student of memory. As a multi-disciplinary expressionist, my work delves into the art of remembering and personal narrative. In the process of a body of work, I follow Marcel Proust’s lead and stimulate my senses through memory and the necessity of reflection using personal journals, poetry, and literature.
By exploring memory through different disciplines like painting and sculpture, my artwork transcends boundaries, capturing the complexity of memory through a fusion of mediums. These mediums include ash, cement, sawdust, canvas, paint, thread, yarn, plaster, and found objects, constructing and deconstructing the very essence of memory’s texture.
Every creation resulting from these processes tells a story, in abstract form, reminiscent of a poem or book chapters, exploring themes such as healing, trauma recovery, faith, and self-discovery. My artistic vision reflects memory’s intricacies, inviting reflection on personal narratives and universal themes in scales that range up to 20 feet in size.
Each work involves constant physicality, using a range of motion from the floor to the wall, incorporating dancing, jumping, sliding, and pressing with body weight, often using cardboard as a transfer mechanism.
As a full-time studio artist, my focus is on creating a body of work that continually develops and matures over the course of a lifetime, evoking emotions by accessing both remembered and forgotten memories.