Samantha Clark

Samantha Clark is a visual artist, writer and mentor based in the Orkney islands and working internationally. 

Shaped by Orkney’s dynamic natural environment of wind, sky and particularly water, her recent work invites us to notice how water permeates everything: sea, lake, stream, cloud, rain, fog, tears, sweat, piss; as we inhabit a liquid reality that interpenetrates our own bodies and minds. 

Originally trained as a tapestry weaver, Sam’s practice has evolved through writing, drawing, installation, video and permanent works in the public realm, with painting as her primary current focus. 

She trained at Edinburgh College of Art (1985-89), Belgrade Academy of Fine Arts (1991) and the Slade School of Art (1993-6). She has an MA in Environmental Philosophy (UCLAN, 2011) and a PhD in Creative Writing (St Andrew’s University, 2017). She has carried out numerous residencies, commissions and exhibitions, including a commission to create a 30 metre mural for the entrance hub of the New Balfour Hospital in Kirkwall in 2019, residencies at Oxford University, the British School at Rome (1991), the University of Tasmania (2000) and IAAB International Exchange Studios in Basel (2004).

Her first book ‘The Clearing’ was published by Little, Brown in 2020. In 2023 she received the inaugural RSA MacRobert Trust Art Award for Painting.