Natalie Clark: Forms of Origins: Guesthouse | Jackson Hole, WY

On view by appointment from July 19, 2024 – February 2, 2024.  An opening celebration will take place on Friday, July 19, 2024 from 5:30 – 7:30 pm. 

Visit Camille Obering Fine Art to learn more & request a private viewing.

For over 40 years Natalie Clark has pursued an investigation of the symbiosis between materials, form, nature, spirituality, and indigenous cultures of the world.  In her most recent works, Clark has embarked upon an internal journey exploring sacred geometry, genesis, and transformation through the prism of feminine energy. “Forms of Origins” is the result of a two-and-a-half-year pursuit beginning with Clark personally selecting blocks of marble from a quarry in Carrara, Italy.  At her studio in a 13th century masia tucked away in the Catalonian hills, she breathed life and fluidity into the solid, crystalline structure of marble, a material historically considered too difficult for women to work with because of the manual labor and finesse required to manipulate this stone.  In addition, working directly with the Parellada Foundry – known for working with Joan Miro – Clark cast bronzes from these sculptures which exhibit a remarkable fluidity, with sinuous, flowing lines that capture movement and vitality. 

Through these works, Clark honors the feminine divine, connecting with nature, abundance, sensuality, inspiration and peace.  Dissatisfied with prevailing contemporary definitions of womanhood as either meek and insignificant or strident and harsh, Clark turned to the essence of her soul and to women around her, marveling at the power of woman’s innate ability to create a lush and nurturing garden from which creativity, relationships, family, peace and happiness could grow.  Historically, these attributes have been venerated in cultures around the world seen in the naming of various deities.  Clark’s sculptures take on the names of goddesses such as “Kali,” Hindu for mother of the universe whose floral form reveals a universal language into the feminine divine, fragile and delicate, yet powerful.  “Anjea” the Australian fertility goddess, thought to house  people's souls between their incarnation.  Hindu, light of the universe, “Atmika” radiates light and a profound universality, her form transcends many spiritual faiths, residing in the Divine. “Vesta,” Roman goddess guardian of the sacred flame, wicks upwards and outwards in a familiar rhythm retaining a core thread and the essence of sacred geometry. And Greek goddess “Gaia” is the personification of the earth and the culmination of feminine energy, abundance and fertility.

Contemporary society is witnessing a changing tide where women are embracing their feminine energy through this prism, making Clark’s work from “Forms of Origins” both prescient and timeless.   Clark’s mastery in forming marble and bronze positions herself within the grand legacy of art history, continuing and renewing the dialogue between classical craftsmanship and modern artistic expression. In doing so, she follows in the footsteps of pioneering women artists like Camille Claudel, Barbara Hepworth, and Louise Bourgeois, who have looked at these historically patriarchal practices and reinterpreted them from a female perspective.

Opening Celebration Photography Credit to Camille Obering Fine Art.