Alisa Clark

Video - 1:20

Artist Statement: Following the loss of my parents, I became the keeper of our family's past, collecting memorabilia in a basket that traces its origins back to my grandmother's journey from Straubing, Germany to Ellis Island in 1918. This memorabilia turned into a collection of iterations and a final altered book (which includes those same iterations). My creative process evolved into a collaborative journey, inviting perspectives from a wider circle to expand the narrative, a testament to the power of community in shaping our stories. In a world that sometimes feels overshadowed by darkness and chaos, I searched for hope in life’s unfolding moments. In “Ottillie’s Basket,” I wove together fragments of family history into a narrative of expectancy and promise.

The centerpiece of “Ottillie’s Basket,” my grandmother's immigration basket, symbolizes not only our family's journey but also the resilience and hope that propelled us forward. By integrating elements like the 1935 wooden cutouts of my father and great grandparents, alongside grapes and grapevines (a family winery that still exists today goes back generations, I reached for an expression of shared legacy that embodies hope for our story and our story’s future. The ever-present grapevines symbolize God’s continuous presence: they are the common element which I chose to weave hope throughout our story.

Creating multiple scenes within the basket rather than a single, elaborate display, was an iterative process: crafting scenes, photographing them, and then reconfiguring elements for new narratives. This process allowed me to tell multiple stories almost simultaneously. The culmination of this journey, a 3D book sculpture, embodies the myriad of stories and perspectives that have shaped our collective identity. The creation and expression of this piece is meant to reflect the moments of our past that are wholly meaningful and point to our shared connection as the hope in the face of life's uncertainties. Throughout, I weaved glimmers of God’s constant presence by including elements such as my father’s guardian angel statue and rosary, four eggs in a nest (symbolizing my three siblings and me), the Stefana wreath that my mother and father wore at their wedding, my Aunt Julie’s religious shrines, and a candle lit to shine light in the darkness. “Ottillie’s Basket” was an attempt to honor my family’s lineage: to capture the essence of our shared story, while breathing hope into “what was” and “what is to come.”

Bio: Alisa E. Clark is an avid acrylic painter, collage artist, assemblage sculptor, and educator who enthusiastically explores ways to share her creative process while encouraging others to join her in the process of art making. Alisa communicates the transformative power of art through words and images and believes in releasing the spiritual power of painting to others. From within the creative flow, in-between moments are captured with a paintbrush and the artist’s voice. A better understanding of our “In-Betweens,” and ways art can give us hope no matter how hard our present places may seem, waits inside Alisa’s paintings. Her liminal creations invite people on little adventures through time and space: fantastical journeys with the power to bring interconnectedness, possibility, and a splash of imagination to the present moment. Whether Alisa is creating, writing, or teaching, her goal is always the same: to share the spiritual power of creative process in life’s liminal places and spaces.