The Tarble Arts Center holds many events and displays, but on Sept. 28, a special guest gave a presentation entitled “Art Speaks.”
Hadley Clark, an artist with an educational background in painting as well as garment design and construction, shared her journey with her art through a collection of stories and imagery.
The event had a large turnout, and guests were asked to indulge in the drinks and snacks provided at the entrance. The event lasted from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Clark’s unique story gave the audience insight concerning providing a purpose to discarded material.
Through a series of images and videos, Clark gave the audience her path and interest. Art can take on many forms, but Clark’s specialty is Fashion. She uses fashion to create her own take on art.
Clark has always connected with clothes, “Ever since I was little, my mother would sew our clothes, and I loved how I could take two different articles of clothing and piece them together, creating a new garment.”
She had a love for clothes and every material; she wanted to be in the world of fashion and art. She knew she wanted to harness love in her own powerful way.
Clark presented how she gives purpose to old discards. Having a presence to absence built a sanctuary for both her and her practice. Art is her life, so Clark focused on how she could change the capitalistic fringe regarding textile waste.
Her pieces of art were shown to the audience. The first art piece she recognized was titled “Till Death Do Us Part” and consisted of models wearing clothes made with textile waste. Although this was a non-traditional way to make clothes, Clark wanted to capture the active waste from clothing materials.
“Clothes carry us through the world we live in,” Clark said during her presentation.
Clark opened a store/art installation in Kansas City, Missouri. It was foreign to people living in her community, and understanding the art took some time. With the cultivation of her store, Clark wanted to explore her options for putting her art out for the world.
She set up an Instagram account that started to kick off. It provided an outlet for her to meet other artists. “As a creator, you want to find more of your people,” said Clark.
She was creating pieces of clothing that were meant to have an underlying meaning rather than for a person to wear.
One example of this is a motorcycle jacket that is connected to a set of curtains. Between the jacket and curtains surfaced the original fabric of the curtains and jacket. The art connected the final piece along with the scraps it took to make.
In Feb. of 2023, Clark opened her own studio. She made herself a set of rules for her space, and she tries to obey them to this day.
For one of her rules, she wrote, “This is not a space of productivity; this is a space of deep connection in a pace that suits the timeline of the thoughts and physical manufacturing.” She now holds sewing classes and workshops in her studio.
Clark has made distinctive art throughout her career, and you can view her passion on her website, hadleyclark.com, or her Instagram: @hadleyaclark.
On Sept. 30, Tarble will be hosting a space from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. where people can bring scraps of clothes, preferably woven, to turn them into new articles of clothing!
Jacob Adcock can be reached at 581-2812 or at jadcock@eiu.edu.
