Meriel Clarke’s work explores unease within the organised contemporary domestic. She is interested in something out of place, disorder that pushes up against or permeates through the boundaries of our homes. Her recent work includes installations of faked fragments referencing idealized domestic interiors. The objects produced are vulnerable, constructed from delicate, smudgeable material. She then Introduces a disturbance, an unexpected smell or a peculiar glow. Using sound for its diffuse and ambiguous qualities, like the wet sharp crack of an egg, and the hollow echo created as it is prized apart. She subverts these ordinary objects to create something ‘slightly off’, a shift to misregister the viewer and play with supernatural space between uncertainty and confirmation.
Meriel has an MA from the Royal College of Art. Her work has been exhibited in galleries including; R.A.W Labs (London), Link Gallery (Manchester), Flat Time House (London) and IMMA (Dublin). In 2016 she received funding from Arts Council England to undertake research in Odisha, India. In 2019/2020 she was Sculpture Town Artist in Residence in Harlow, where she had her first solo exhibition at the Gibberd Gallery in September and October of 2021.
SOLO EXHIBITION
GIBBERD GALLERY, HARLOW - SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2021.
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2021
MEMENTO MORI
AIR GALLERY, ALTRINCHAM, UK.
2020
TOUCH ME
ONLINE EXHIBITION
SMALL PLEASURES
DINA, SHEFFIELD (ONLINE)
GARDENS OF EARTHLY DELIGHT
2019
HIATUS COLLECTIVE: OPENING THE DIALOGUE
THE CANVAS, LONDON, UK.
TALL TALES OF THE KITCHEN KELPIE'S SOUP
R.A.W LAB, LONDON, UK.
GRADUATE EXHIBITION 2019
ROYAL COLLEGE OF ART, KENSINGTON GORE, LONDON, UK.
INCIDENTAL PEOPLE
FLAT TIME HOUSE, LONDON, UK.
SCULPTURE PETTING ZOO
HOCKNEY GALLERY, ROYAL COLLEGE OF ART, LONDON, UK.
2018
SUPERCULT
HOCKNEY GALLERY, ROYAL COLLEGE OF ART, LONDON, UK.
SURFACE TENSION
R.A.W LAB, LONDON, UK.
R.A.W LAB WORK IN PROGRESS NIGHT
R.A.W LAB, LONDON, UK.
ROYAL COLLEGE OF ART- WORK IN PROGRESS SHOW
ROYAL COLLEGE OF ART SCULPTURE BUILDING, LONDON, UK.
2017
ORISSA STYLE
LINK GALLERY, THE UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER, MANCHESTER, UK.
2016
OPEN STUDIO
RIA/CE, RAGHURAJPUR, PURI, ODISHA, INDIA.
2015
MODALITIES
DUKES KEEP, SOUTHAMPTON, UK.
MADE IT
UNIVERSITY OF BRIGHTON, BRIGHTON, UK.
2014
THINKING/DRAWING
CURIOUS PROJECTS, EASTBOURNE, UK.
SOMEWHERETO_
THE OPEN MARKET, BRIGHTON, UK.
OPEN STUDIO
CAWDOR CASTLE, NAIRN, SCOTLAND.
HEADROOM
UNIVERSITY OF BRIGHTON GALLERY, BRIGHTON, UK.
2013
CEMENT
26 ST. MARTIN’S PLACE, BRIGHTON, UK.
2012
ALSO, TOO, AS WELL,
THE IRISH MUSEUM OF MODERN ART (IMMA), DUBLIN, IRELAND.
PRIZES + RESIDENCIES
2019
HARLOW ARTS TRUST SCULPTURE TOWN AWARD
2016
RAGHURAJPUR INTERNATIONAL ART/CULTURE EXCHANGE RAGHURAJPUR, PURI, ODISHA, INDIA.
ARTIST INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT FUND, THE ARTS COUNCIL ENGLAND.
2015
SEOUL NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF KOREA PRIZE, IN RECOGNITION OF OUTSTANDING ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENT.
2014
CAWDOR CASTLE RESIDENCY, CAWDOR CASTLE, NAIRN, SCOTLAND.
PORTLAND SCULPTURE AND QUARRY TRUST, PORTLAND, DORSET, UK.
KURT SCHWITTERS MERZ BARN PROJECT, LITTLE LANGDALE, CUMBRIA, UK.
EDUCATION
2017 - 2019
ROYAL COLLEGE OF ART, MA IN FINE ART SCULPTURE.
DISSERTATION: THE FICTION OF CLEAN (DISTINCTION).
2012 - 2015
THE UNIVERSITY OF BRIGHTON, BA (HONS) IN FINE ART SCULPTURE.
OTHER
WRITING - SCREENED OFF: A REMOTE ENCOUNTER WITH SCULPTURE https://sculpturetown.uk/
TALK ON SELECTED WORKS - UNIVERSITY OF THE CREATIVE ARTS FARNHAM, MARCH 2019.
- LIVING HERITAGE, EMPIRE HOTEL,ODISHA, INDIA,NOVEMBER 2016.
- THE UNIVERSITY OF BRIGHTON, JANUARY 2015.