Peter Clark’s collage art has a humoristic edge to it. Featuring mainly animals, but also clothing articles and the occasional automobile, his work is composed of anything and everything – from maps, labels, and discarded tickets to garments crafted from gift wrapping, musical scores, and love letters.
“I find them everywhere I go,” noted Clark in an interview with Zoneone Arts, “on the street, flea markets, and car boot sales. Paper fairs are places that I love going to and searching around, I go to markets wherever I travel.” Clark travels far and wide to source materials for his collage pieces. His travels take him to antique fairs in Sussex, or further afield to flea markets in France, the U.S., Japan, and India.
Born in Yorkshire in 1944, Clark studied at Manchester College of Art and Design from 1962-1966 and went on to have had a prolific career in design and illustration. But it was only in 1999 that he began creating his first commissioned collages. His worked proved to be a huge success, leading to him becoming a full-time artist with works in private and public collections worldwide.
Clark’s technique is considered unique, as he treats his collection of vintage ephemera as his color palette. Manipulating his materials, he uses them to “paint” his finished piece. For instance, using the density of print allows him to shade certain areas, while lines plucked from old maps or manuscripts create substance and movement within the piece.
But according to Clark, the secret to his work is humor. “I try to inflict what amuses me onto my work!” he says. “I prefer the pieces to have different levels, and allow shadows to play within them. Less boring and predictable that way, I don’t like things to be too worked out, I am not interested in that type of thinking.”
Scroll down to see some of his unique, playful creations:
