I was born and raised in San Francisco, to artist parents in a flat shared with underground cartoonists. I studied painting at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago then the Cooper Union School of Art in New York, graduating in 2011.

My paintings attempt to use the language of figurative portraiture to create unique and mysterious compositions. Through a process of varied materials, paint application and excavation they attempt to elaborate and transform the terms of portraiture into something alien, strange and contemporary.

Could you tell us a little more about your background and how you began creating art?

I grew up in San Francisco in a household of underground comic artists while also attending an arts-based, Steiner school which disallowed the use of black. This upbringing started me off with an aesthetic framework that oscillates between the graphic and the impressionistic, the profane and the profound.

What does your art aim to say to its viewers?

My art asks to be viewed as a mirror to its audience. Ideally, leaving them with a sense of mystery, introspection or a lingering unease.

Can you tell us about the process of creating your work? What is your daily routine when working?

My process is really about discovery and documenting the search for it. I usually start off with one or several photographic references that have a quality that inspires me. I then try to lose that initial nugget of inspiration and commit myself fully to the exploration of the pallet, materials and their arrangement in a way that feels true. If I can rediscover that original quality at the end, and it has been somehow transformed, then the painting is done.

What is the essential element in your art?

The essential element in my art is the negotiation between harmony and imbalance.

In your opinion, what role does the artist have in society?

In my opinion, the role of the artist in society is to remind us of what it means to be human.

Website Amurrayclark.com