Mark Clay

My work considers memory, experience and mutability. In particular, I am inspired by landscape (both natural and human), by industrial history, and also by music and literature. Principally I work in drawing, but also in sculpture/3D, often land-based using found materials and created in or for locations that resonate with me. By combining the systematic and poetic, I hope to reveal moments of insight, experience and reflection, especially in overlooked or unconsidered places.

I have been developing my practise since 2014, by way of initial interests in illustration, writing, and exploration. Prior to this, from 1995 I pursued a successful career in charitable fundraising, marketing and communications since 1995, working in a range of roles for Oxford University, Oxford Brookes University, Opera North, YMCA England and the Story Museum. Presently he works at Oxford-based charity Yellow Submarine.

My work has been shown at most of the major art venues in the Oxford area and, more widely, at the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize, the Drawing Paper Show and venues across the UK. I am a regular exhibitor with the Oxford Art Society, Oxfordshire Artweeks, and the Oxford-based group Portable. At the present time, I am the Artist in Residence at the Hinksey Heights Nature Reserve, near Oxford, and hold the role of Engagement Coordination on the OAS Committee. My work is included in private collections across the world including the USA, Germany, France and Australia.