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Sonya Clark: Loose Strands, Tight Knots
6/28/2008

Focus Show
Sonya Clark: Loose Strands, Tight Knots

June 28–September 21, 2008

Tools used to groom, primp and adorn the body provide a wealth of information about cultural notions of beauty and aesthetics, hygiene and civilized behavior. As art objects, these remnants of material culture reveal the concerns of the maker, the interests of the collector and the intrinsic energy held by the piece itself. This exhibition will feature approximately 20 artworks, including sculpture, beadwork, photography and video art by contemporary artist Sonya Clark along with objects from the Walters Art Museum’s collection. The works will express, in their creative process or medium, a relationship with shifting, and often highly subjective, notions of beauty while highlighting distinct forms of adornment—hair, beadwork and jewelry among them. As an artist, Clark is concerned with the function of objects in material culture and makes works that engage and consider the life span of the objects as well as their heritage and legacy. Born in Washington, D.C., Clark was a longtime Baltimore resident. She is currently the chair of Craft and Material Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Va.

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