Textile artist Ann Clarke frequently describes herself as “the kid who took a walk alone.” Solitary labor and contemplation are essential building blocks for her work, which ranges from intricately woven landscapes to impossibly detailed anatomical tufted wall hangings. For Clarke, the importance of solitude is held in tension with her role as an educator and community builder. The techniques underpinning her work have been passed from one maker to another in workshops, sewing circles, and from parent to child, weaving a literal social net.
Clarke’s body of work presented in Under the Canopy was shaped by her mother’s physical and mental decline in the years before her passing. A ghostly knit of her mother’s hand evokes the intimacy that comes with sharing skill and labor. Images of nature exist alongside others that draw on the material culture of domestic environments like flower arrangements, vases, and empty chairs. Grouped together, the works in Under the Canopy create space for both artist and viewer to contemplate human relationships, mortality, and shared labor.
About the Artist:
Ann Clarke, originally from Rochester, NY, is a celebrated fiber artist who received an MFA from Rhode Island School of Design. She holds a BFA in painting and printmaking from the University of Michigan. Clarke has exhibited throughout her academic career having taught at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, TN from 1994 to 1998. In 1998, she joined SU as a faculty member in Fiber Arts/Material Studies. In 2008, she was named the Dean of Syracuse University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts, and returned to faculty in 2016, retiring in 2024 to be a full-time artist. Clarke’s newest series, Interior Landscapes, includes large-scale rugs installed on walls for museum visitors to contemplate. Dreamlike images of trees challenge us to consider the vulnerability of our wooded landscapes. Oversized, empty chairs remind us of the consequences of loss—of both people and the environment in which we make our homes.
Ann Clarke
Surprise Eye Portal, 2025
Knotted wool, cotton, and silk, 29 inches diameter
Courtesy of the artist
Ann Clarke: Under the Canopy is part of the Everson CNY Artist Initiative, an exhibition program that celebrates the multi-faceted talents of regional artists. The Everson is supported by the General Operating Support program, a regrant program of the County of Onondaga with the support of County Executive, J. Ryan McMahon II, and the Onondaga County Legislature, administered by CNY Arts; and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
