“Stitch by stitch, line by line, layer by layer – I breathe life into a work, drawing characters and stories into being: writing poetry with paper, thread, cloth and ink. There is always more than meets the eye and things are not always what they seem to be.”
Anzara Clark
ARTIST
Anzara Clark
With a focus mainly on the application of textile and printmaking techniques on paper, I use new and repurposed papers, along with textiles and other recycled and found objects to explore layered narratives and visual poetics. Garment forms and fragments feature prominently in my work as rich vehicles for storytelling and poetry. I employ repetitive processes to obscure the nature of my materials until viewed closely and intend my works to challenge assumptions about material value.
Working across a range of mediums and genres, I am fascinated with exploring themes of individual and cultural identity, archetypes and icons, memory and myth, fragility and resilience, significant human transitions and transformative experiences. My work is driven by an intense curiosity that finds endless inspiration and opportunities for creative experimentation from seeking beauty in damage, wounding and imperfection.
Meticulous Imperfection
Hand stitching as radical act, 2020.
In a fast-paced world that values uniformity, machine made precision, perfection and material worth; slow hand stitching can be seen as a radical act. Subverting the contemporary norms of production and ascribing value, my practice embodies an attitude of meticulous imperfection. Immersive and meditative, I celebrate divergence, individuality and imperfection through my creative processes.
At the same time, meticulous in focus and application, my process attributes value to the humanity of the work – to the steady hand, the focused eye, the one-pointed attention, the creative flow and the dedicated heart.
Paper As Textile. Volume 1
by Anzara Clark | 2023.
Paper As Textile
Volume 1: Creating and Strengthening Paper Cloth and Textiles
The first volume in a two-volume series teaching a range of skills for manipulating paper to create paper cloth and textiles.
This book starts with the premise that paper is a textile. It addresses different approaches and technique responses to the challenges involved in working with paper as a textile. It explores Eastern and Western techniques and a range of paper manipulation processes that turns paper into cloth. It incorporates experimental approaches to paper manipulation and builds a knowledge base that encompasses traditional and contemporary practices, enhances creative options, and honours the amazing material that is paper. The techniques and skills included in this book can be used for creating paper cloth and textiles suitable for soft sculptural paper forms, paper garments, dimensional paper objects and paper wearable art.
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A Part Of Me Goes With You
by Anzara Clark | 2019.
‘A Part Of Me Goes With You’ is a poetic reflection on grief, love and loss. Beautifully photographed images by Grant Wells Photo of a paper mourning cloak made in 2015 have been combined with the text and concept developed by Anzara. The book has been written by Anzara to honor her stillborn Grandson, Cody. Part profits from the sale of each book are directed to stillbirth projects.
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