VACMA 25/26 Case Study: Sam Clark

I used the support of the VACMA award to invest in new materials; alcohol inks, acrylic glazes and high flow acrylics, and spent some time exploring their potential on a small scale. This experimentation formed the groundwork towards a series of larger paintings that create a sense of light, air, movement, depth and atmosphere, as if enveloping the viewer in a mist. I then completed a multi-panel painting, 3.3 metres wide, that is an attempt to capture the sensation of standing on an Orkney clifftop looking out to sea on a day when the sun is slowly burning through a mist, a day when the light feels like something tangible, and the air moves and dances with tiny, glinting droplets of water or salt. The painting 'The Movement That Light Is' will form the centrepiece of my solo exhibition at The Scottish Gallery in October 2027.

The exploration of alcohol inks and synthetic YUPO paper has initiated a new strand of work, smaller in scale, which forms a series of ink drawings under the title 'source' which suggests pools, puddles, seeds or cells - contained versions of the wider landscape that carry the potential to over flow themselves.

I have been able to expand the scale of my work in both directions - bigger and smaller - and so open up my visual language to a wider range of expression. The large painting 'The Movement That light Is' represents a step change in my painting, more ambitious than anything I've previously made. Conversely, new small drawings offer a simple, small scale, delicate counterpoint to the bigger, more time-consuming works and indicate some new avenues of exploration.

The support of the VACMA award allowed me to purchase new materials I had not used before and take a few chances as I experimented, a valuable breathing space to explore creatively without immediate pressure for results. This created an environment in which new ideas could take shape, which will continue to bear fruit in further work yet to be completed.