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Carissa Lillian Clark (she/they) is an interdisciplinary, project-based artist whose work includes a wide variety of social practice collaborations and a studio practice of visual, craft, and performative mediums. Using site-specific materials (invasive plants, industrial remnants, soil, algae), painting, printmaking, sculpture and installation, their work engages with themes of climate resilience, interspecies relationships, and queer ecofeminist desire.

 

In 2012, she co-founded and -operated Utila Art Space in Utila, Bay Islands, Honduras; from 2014 to 2018 she co-founded and -operated the Sanctuary in Arcata, California; in 2020 to 2021 she was a working member of Dream Farm Commons in Oakland, California. They received a BFA in Sculpture and Social Practice from California College of the Arts. They have shown work and contributed to permanent installations in the U.S., Honduras, México, and Germany. Clark lives and works in a small town in northern California.

Gathering invasive blackberry vines for entangled refuge. Photo credit: Hannah Suzanna

​Education

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2021  B.F.A Individualized: Sculpture and Social Practice, California College of the Arts, Oakland, Ca. 

2010 - 2018  College of the Redwoods, Studio Art for Transfer, Eureka, Ca.

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Selected Exhibitions

​2024 Outer Roomination​s: Site-specific Outdoor Art Festival, Bluffhaüs, Table Bluff, Ca. 

2023  Odes, the Sanctuary, Arcata, Ca.

2023  Outer Roominations, Bluffhaüs, Table Bluff, Ca.

2023  Dada Cabaret, Synapsis Nova, Eureka, Ca.
2023  Spiritual Detour -> This Way, Brenda Tuxford Gallery, Eureka, Ca.​

2022  The Card Show, Epitome Gallery, Eureka, Ca.

2022  Zero to Fierce: 8th Annual Women's Festival, The Arcata Playhouse, Arcata, Ca.

2021  Dreamlines and Dirt Scars, Solo Exhibition, Dream Farm Commons, Oakland, Ca. 

2021  Out in the World: Creative Practice by College of the Redwoods Alumni, Morris Graves Museum of Art, Eureka, Ca. 

2020 Yozo Hamaguchi Scholarship Exhibition, CCA Libraries Digital Exhibition, Oakland, Ca. ​

2019  On Borders and Boundaries: Global Artists at CCA, CCA Hubbell Street Galleries, San Francisco, Ca.

2019 CCA Ceramics Program Exhibition, California Conference for the Advancement of Ceramic Arts, Davis, Ca. 

2018  Soft Thoughts, Isabelle Percy West Gallery, California College of the Arts, Oakland, Ca.​​

2018  Future Formers: A Visual Art Exhibition of College of the Redwoods Alumni, The Sanctuary, Arcata, Ca. North Coast Journal, Gabrielle                Gopinath, Face/Off, www.northcoastjournal.com/humboldt/face-off/Content?oid=8697092

2017  The Trajectory presents Monsterpiece Cabaret + Exhibit, Synapsis Nova, Eureka, Ca.

2017  Subjective Realities, the Sanctuary, Arcata, Ca. KHSU, Wendy Butler, 2017, Artwaves: Subjective Realities,                                                                       www.khsu.org/post/artwaves-subjective-realities-arcata​

2016  Evoking Value, Dresbach Hunt-Boyer Mansion, California Conference for the Advancement of Ceramic Arts, Davis, Ca.​

2016  Dear Friend, the Sanctuary, Arcata, Ca. North Coast Journal, Gabrielle Gopinath, 2016, Cult Following,                                                                           www.northcoastjournal.com/humboldt/cult-following

2015  The Card Show, the Sanctuary, Arcata, Ca. North Coast Journal, Gabrielle Gopinath, 2015, Full House,                                                                             www.northcoastjournal.com/humboldt/full-house Image reproduction.

2015  Bodies of Work, College of the Redwoods Gallery, Eureka, Ca. North Coast Journal, Gabrielle Gopinath, 2015, Transfigured,                                       www.northcoastjournal.com/humboldt/transfigured​​

2012  Utila Tridimensional, Utila Art Space, Utila, Bay Islands, Honduras​

​2010 Humboldt Arts Festival, the Creamery pop-up gallery, Arcata, Ca. 

2009  I carry them with me, Solo Exhibition, The Front Gallery, Mckinleyville, Ca.

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Awards and Grants

​2024 Holiday Event Mini-Grant, Eureka Cultural Arts District, Eureka, Ca.​​

2022 Funds for Artist's Resilience Mini-Grant, Ink People Center for the Arts, Eureka, Ca.

2021 CCA Impact Award, California College of the Arts, Oakland, Ca.​

2020 Yozo Hamaguchi Printmedia Scholarship Award, Oakland, Ca.

2017  Cindy Hooper’s Innovative Idea Award, Juried Student Exhibition with Jurors Hirsch Perlman and Sarah Whorf, College of the Redwoods,          Eureka, Ca.

2014 Ceramic Award, Juried Student Exhibition with Juror Brandice Guerra, College of the Redwoods, Eureka, Ca.

2010 Sculpture Award, Juried Student Exhibition with Juror Sanderson Morgan, College of the Redwoods, Eureka, Ca.
 

Professional Experience

2024 Painter and Community Engagement Advisor, Tales from Cowtown Puppet Show, Redcrest, Ca. ​

​2023-2024 Assistant Fabricator, Esther Elia, Albuquerque, NM.​

2023 Assistant contractor, ABQ INTL Artist Residency, Albuquerque, NM.​

2022  Co-operator, the Sanctuary, Arcata, Ca.​

2020-2021  Exhibitions Intern/member artist Dream Farm Commons, Oakland, Ca.

2019 - 2020 Painter, Bristle Bros. Mural Company, Berkeley, Ca.

2018 - 2020  Studio Assistant, Trainhole Studios Artist Collective, Berkeley, Ca.

2018  Sculpture Department Lab Tech, California College of the Arts, Oakland, Ca.

2014 - 2018  Co-founder, Board Member, Lab Tech, Sign Maker, Event Coordinator, The Sanctuary, Arcata, Ca.

2016  Volunteer, Das Baumhaus: Project & Space for Sustainability, Berlin, Germany.

2015 - 2016  Ceramics Department Lab Tech, College of the Redwoods, Eureka, Ca.

2014  Volunteer, Morris Graves Museum of Art, Eureka, Ca.

2012 - 2013  Lettering Painter, Urs’ Boat Shop, Utila, Bay Islands, Honduras.

2012 - 2013  Co-Founder, Teacher, Puppeteer, Collaborator, Utila Art Space, Bay Islands, Honduras.

2009 - 2010  Administrative Assistant, Arcata Arts Institute, Arcata, Ca.​​
 

Workshops, Performances, Residencies

2024 Painting workshop with Club Watermelon: Students for Palestine, Sunnybrae Middle School, Arcata, Ca.​

​2024 Work-trade artist-in-residence at La Colmena Art Farm, Tlayacapan, Morelos, Mexic​o​

2021 Artist-in-residence at Dream Farm Commons, Oakland, Ca.

2020 Artist talk, Dialogues and Practices graduate course, California College of the Arts, San Francisco, Ca.

2020 This Way Brouwn Map Collector, What We Want Is____: Ted Purves Scholarship Fundraiser, California College of the Arts, San Francisco,             Ca.

2020 Ceramics hand-building workshop with Susanne Cockrell’s Social Works course, California College of the Arts, Oakland, Ca.

2019 Aftersculpture: Sculptural trellis workshop with Green Tigers: Environmental Justice & Garden Club, Longfellow Middle School, Berkeley,            Ca.​

2020 Project pitch speech for "Devil of an Ancestor" at Oakland Stock, Oakland, Ca. ​

2019 Artist-in-Residence at the Sanctuary, Arcata, Ca.

2019 Artist talk and song leader, Response/Resiliency Mixer, the Sanctuary, Arcata, Ca.

2019 Performance, Primeval Intersection Showcase, Artist’s Television Access, San Francisco, Ca. 

2017 Poetry Reading, Friday Poets, Morris Graves Museum of Art, Eureka, Ca.

2017 Announcer, 1st Annual Dada Cabaret, Synapsis Nova, Eureka, Ca.

2016 Closing speech for the Sanctuary building’s 100th birthday celebration, Arcata, Ca. ​

2015 Master of Ceremonies for the Sanctuary’s Multimedia Art Extravaganza, November to Remember, Arcata, Ca.

2012 Artist-in-residence/co-founder at Utila Art Space, Utila, Bay Islands, Honduras.

 

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