In all her art, Clark has revealed her education in science and scientific theory, drawing particular inspiration from geology, anthropology, Egyptology, and environmental sciences.
Her work primarily explores texture and complex surfaces, while also engaging with the concept of motion. Her imagery is often organized into diptychs or triptychs, which further enhances the sense of movement. Her love for fresco has even inspired her to devise her own form of fresco on paper.
Much like Betti Franceschi (see my column, “Betti Franceschi, A Role Model for Any Age,” Persimmon Tree, Spring 2025) Clark began her creative journey as a professional dancer—though she has always been captivated by the visual arts. This connection between dance and visual art is not unusual. In my nearly 45 years teaching art history at Juilliard, I observed that many of my most perceptive students were dancers. Perhaps their deep engagement with art—truly embodying it—gives them a unique perspective.
Clark rarely relies solely on paint. Many of her works function as palimpsests, developed through multiple processes, such as building up and scraping back layers of color, followed by repainting and the addition of materials like pumice or other granules. Her printmaking utilizes similar methods, with an emphasis on drawing, repetition, and rhythm—and these, in turn, enrich her paintings. Unsurprisingly, one of her favorite artists is the great German Anselm Kiefer, though she notes that she created works resembling his before he created his own; thus, she considers him a kindred spirit, rather than an influence.
Black Hole #4, Duality. Oil on Paper, 11.5 x 16″, 2009.
“In Black Hole #4, Duality,” Clark has written, “the ambiguity of the birth and death of stars is expressed in the interior of the black hole. The galactic material has the energy of compression and expansion. The oil painting is on paper that was prepared with volcanic particles and blue-black paint to create a depth of field. The metallic colors represent the elements of the universe that are also present in all of us.”
Beyond the Kuiper Belt #18. Silver and copper pens and inks on black handmade paper, 6 x 9”, 2023-24.
This work, from a series created during 2023-24, appears at first glance to be made up of countless lines and scribbles, some of which coalesce into thicker lines or orbs, reminiscent of dwarf planets. Further observation rewards the viewer with a mesmerizing effect; the swirling rhythms traversing the black surface create an illusion of gazing into a starlit night. (Again, not surprisingly, Van Gogh was an early influence). The title of the series comes from what has been defined as “a vast, icy, doughnut-shaped region of the outer solar system extending from just beyond Neptune (about 30 astronomical units, or AU) to roughly 50 AU from the Sun. It contains millions of remnants from the early solar system, including comets, small icy bodies, and several dwarf planets.” This sense of aggregation and cosmic material is reflected in many of Clark’s paintings and drawings.
She has said that “these pieces were my return to drawing. My passion for drawing has carried my work forward into several different media throughout my career. Even when painting, I am drawing.”
In much of her recent art, Clark’s attention has been captured by the verdigris, or blue-green patina, that formed on copper plates she used for etching. This transformation in color and texture intrigues and inspires her. Indeed, it is as apparent in her sculpture as in her paintings and prints. Take, for example,
Verdigris Assembled Wall Sculpture #78. Verdigris fragments on verdigris copper sheet. 12 x 11 x 4 1/2”, 2023.
This abstract sculpture evokes the form of a creature, embodying Clark’s signature emphasis on texture, movement, and space. She has made numbers of these sculptures, using both found objects and fragments of verdigris copper, which she bends and shapes.
In early January of this year, I visited Clark’s studio in West Gilgo Beach, located on the south shore of Long Island. Her studio and home are filled with her vibrant paintings, prints, sculptures, and multimedia creations. The environment—the sandy beach, the ocean, and breezes—seems to permeate her work. Clark’s art defies simple categorization, existing as both abstract and representational. Her work prompts reflection on the nature of reality and representation itself, much like contemplating the sand of a beach or the water of the sea: are they abstract, representational, or something in between?
Following are several other representative artworks:
Fresco Sculpture, Side 1. Three attached panels, 2 x 7 x 4′, 2009.
Of this Fresco Clark has written: “The Three-paneled Fresco Sculpture is painted on both sides and measures 8 feet tall. I am able to pick up and carry one panel, even though I am only 5 feet tall!”
Sign. Fresco with botanical inclusions, 36 x 48”, 2009.
Of Sign, she says, “I sometimes buried the dried botanical specimens, then painted over them. I also have taken impressions of them, then removed the flowers and leaves; then painted the intaglio remaining in the wet plaster. In this way I have employed my skills as a printmaker as well as a painter.”
Multiverse #60 Fresco on lightweight support with dry pigments, 12 x 20”, 2023
Quantum Entanglement 20. Oil, pen & ink on prepared canvas, 34 x 34”, 2011.
Growing up in Greenwich Village in the 1940s, the shy only child of a glamorous, eccentric divorcée learns early that life will never be ordinary. From walking in on her mother posing nude for an artist to navigating the unpredictable world of single parenthood long before it was common, her childhood was equal parts bewildering and unforgettable.
In this poignant and witty memoir, Ellen Tovatt Leary reveals how her mother’s flamboyant spirit became both her greatest challenge and her greatest gift—the unlikely force that propelled her toward the theatre. With sharp humor, theatrical anecdotes, and unflinching honesty, she captures the struggles of a diffident child, the drama of a mother who could command applause even in a nursing home, and the triumph of finding her own voice.
A story of resilience, identity, and the complicated bond between mothers and daughters.
The audible version is read by the author. Available from Amazon.
Greta Berman is Art Editor of Persimmon Tree. She received a B.A. from Antioch College, an M.A. from the University of Stockholm, and a Ph.D. from Columbia. She has recently retired from her position as Professor of Art History at Juilliard, where she taught for 46 years. In addition to writing a monthly column, “Focus on Art,” for the Juilliard Journal, she co-curated and co-edited Synesthesia: Art and the Mind with Carol Steen, at the McMaster Museum of Art in
Hamilton, ON, Canada, in 2008. She and Steen also published a chapter titled “Synesthesia and the Artistic Process” for the Oxford Handbook of Synesthesia (Oxford University Press, 2013). She has published numerous articles, as well as lectured on synesthesia, and other subjects. 
A native New Yorker, Irene Clark is known internationally through the paintings and prints she has loaned to the United States Embassies in Egypt, Panama, Qatar, and Ethiopia as well as in private collections in Europe and Australia. Ms Clark's frescoes were viewed at the 1995 United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing. That exhibition, The Worlds Women in Art is currently accessible on the internet. Irene Clark is also represented by work in the Jane Vorhees Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University, Museu Brasileiro da Escultura, as well as in corporate and private collections in Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington DC and New York. Ms. Clark has exhibited her works every year for the last twenty five years She is an instructor in painting, printmaking and fresco.
Outstanding artwork and critique! Beautiful art described in expert detail and truth!
You works are beautiful and delightful to admire. Your biography is, as always, impressive and yet another opportunity to become acquainted. Thanks for sending this for re-visiting.
Very nice article and your work is beautiful. Thanks for sending this to me!
So beguiling…..so original. Are any of these works for sale, or havethey already been sold?
So beguiling….so original. What a wonderful artist.
This is brilliant and profound work. Irene Clark is a wonderful artist.
These are beautiful paintings. Many thanks for introducing me to this artist whom I did not know.