EXHIBITS
Sharing my mindfulness paintings is as satisfying as creating them. It is so exciting to share my process with others. It is also an honor to encourage others to embrace their own process over their product. Don’t look at what I’ve made. Look at why I made it. What did I notice, think about or meditate on? What was I mindful of? These are the questions I hope you will ponder as you visit my exhibits.
Be happy in the moment. That is enough. – Mother Teresa
9th Annual Trinity Art Show: National Juried Exhibition, 2025
From Where I Glean My Faith, 2022
Exhibition Dates: October 4th through November 9th, 2025
“The Ghosts that Linger” 2025 National Juried Exhibition
In Story Box and Peek Inside, ordinary relics become vessels of memory, embodying the “ghosts” that linger within the objects we keep. A nest, chair, crucifix, and fragments of music and time are reimagined as shrines where nostalgia, faith, and identity converge. These assemblages transform the familiar into something uncanny and poetic, revealing how personal histories dwell in material things and asking us to consider what lingers—and what speaks—through the objects that surround us.
Story Box, 2024
Peek Inside, 2024
Exhibition Dates: October 3rd through November 1st, 2025
@ the South Haven Center for the Arts
“Off Center: Art that Pushes Boundaries” 2025 National Juried Exhibition
In Enshrined and Infant of Prague, I transform familiar devotional objects into assemblage shrines that move beyond traditional boundaries of sacred art. By reimagining wooden boxes as altars, layering rosaries, flowers, music, and icons with found elements, these works expand devotion into spaces of memory, story, and contemporary reflection. Both pieces push the boundary between personal and communal faith, blending reverence with reinterpretation and inviting viewers to encounter devotion in unexpected, off-center ways.
Enshrined, 2024
Infant of Prague, 2024
Exhibition Dates: October 3rd through November 1st, 2025 @ the Northville Art House
Uncanny 2025 National Juried Exhibition
@ the Indiana University Art Gallery, Kokomo, IN
Octi Eye blends humor and the uncanny—his single eye peers out from rusted metal. His limbs are like antennae searching for a signal. He’s meant to spin but sits eerily still. Part toy, part relic, part watcher, Octi lingers in the mind, unsettling in his desire to make us laugh uncomfortably.
Octi Eye, 2025
Exhibition Dates: June 4th through June 25th, 2025
Misinformation 2025 Regional Juried Exhibition, Adrian Center for the Arts
Fooled By Some Fool is about disinformation and blind choices. Two doorknobs invite selection, but truth remains uncertain. Letters spiral the frame, warning: “You pick a door and believe it’s truth… but what if you have been fooled by some fool?” Are we “choosing” or are we deceived?
“Scrambled Brains and Toast” is a sculpture about misinformation. Two identical toast slices—one labeled “Truth”, the other “Lies”—show how deception mimics fact. A mixer scrambles “brains,” symbolizing confusion in a world where fake news looks real and real news looks fake.
Fooled By Some Fool: Recipient of the “Juror’s Choice Award”
Scrambled Brains and Toast and Fooled By Some Fool, 2025
Exhibition Dates: April 14th through May 17th, 2025
Shrines, Altars, and Spiritual Things, By Alisa E. Clark, 2025
In “Shrines, Altars, and Spiritual Things,” Alisa guides readers on a transformative journey through the intersection of art and spirituality. This book delves into three-dimensional explorations, encouraging us to navigate life’s liminal spaces by crafting personal “shrines, altars, and spiritual things” imbued with sacred meaning. Alisa shares her own creative journey, offering images of her assemblage altars, shrines, and spiritual works, along with QR codes linking to YouTube videos for a more immersive experience.
Stories in Stiches National Juried Exhibition, 2025
More than fantasy, “Je Vois La Vie: I See Life” holds history and memory. Vintage crochet doilies, fabrics, and linens from my childhood home (stiffened with textile medium) form the fairies and the orb. The illuminated fibers cast a warm glow, linking past and present. With a simple spin, viewers enter a realm where the impossible feels within reach and stories of the past come to life.
Nothing sparked my imagination like the spinning whirligigs above my nursery, filling my earliest memories with movement and wonder. This nostalgic sculpture weaves fiber and craft elements—macrame, yarn, pom-poms, pipe cleaners, buttons, beads, and found objects—capturing the textures and joyful creativity of “Childhood.”
I See Life and Childhood, 2025
@ Northville Art House
Exhibition Dates: May 30th through June 28th, 2025
Water Ways: Reflect and Connect 2025 at the South Haven Center for the Arts
The monoprints of the frogs and the happy tortoise connect to Water Ways: Reflect and Connect by highlighting different relationships with water. The frogs, in a dry place where they need water to thrive, appear unhappy, emphasizing their reliance on it for survival. In contrast, the tortoise, requiring little water, is content in its dry, sunny environment. Together, they reflect on water’s essential yet varied role in sustaining life and water’s power to connect and nurture all living beings.
Waiting for Rain and Basking in the Balance, 2024
Exhibition Dates: May 10th through June 14th, 2025
Ofrendas 2024, Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA)
My final ofrenda includes memorabilia from “Ottillie’s Basket,” this allowed me to interlace our family narrative (on my father’s side) within this vessel. My Ofrenda also honors Yaya, my deceased Greek grandmother (on my mother’s side), inspired by her portable shrine, the iconostasis. These two altars spoke to me of our history (both familial and spiritual) and inspired me to include them in my Ofrenda. Combining elements from family memorabilia, the Greek iconostases, Ottillie’s Basket, and traditional Ofrendas—marigolds, candles, photos, butterflies, skulls, perforated paper, bread, water, salt, grapes and wine, prayer beads, photographs, and other tokens of remembrance—allowed me to adopt new symbolism and connect it to my own spiritual and artistic roots, within my shrine. Through creating this altar, I explore cross-cultural connections while celebrating love and honoring the deceased through a shared act of remembrance.
My Ofrendas 2024 at the Detroit Institute of Art (DIA)
Exhibition Dates: September 28 – November 3, 2024
Some Assembly Required Exhibition, 2024 at the Suzanne Haskew Arts Center
Owl Be Looking at You, 2024 (Honorable Mention)
Presenter for the Three Day Immersive “Some Assembly Required” Assemblage Art Workshop, 2024
2024 Small Works All Media National Juried Exhibition
Created to merge functionality with humor, Hairy Harry holds a toilet paper roll, Multitasking Mom sharpens a pencil, and Boring Bob holds a writing implement when it’s not in use. This series of three assemblage sculptures invites viewers to step into a world where art and humor coexist, where the unexpected can bring joy and provoke thought. These sculptures are an exploration of the boundaries between functionality and artistic expression, blending practicality with a touch of the absurd. They seek to amuse those who delight in the unconventional and who appreciate the courage to create something different.
Multitasking Mom, Boring Bob, and Hairy Harry, 2024
Exhibition Dates: November 15 – December 14, 2024 at the Northville Art House
Sacred and Liturgical National Juried Exhibition, 2024
I paint the shores on which I walked with Him. It’s where I learned that I would completely mess everything up upon my return from this surreal and magnificent place. I saw that I could be my broken self, and that would be enough. I see that I didn’t fully capture this experience. I really bit off much more than I can chew here. Visions are wholly intangible. I’m glad for my attempts anyway. They seared this experience, that transcended my brokenness, into my heart with my paintbrush.
The exhibition will be on display in the M.G. Nelson Gallery
Exhibition Dates: May 3rd to May 31st, 2024
Fantastical 2024: National Juried Exhibition
I create magical places with a tear, a drip, a brushstroke, and a pencil line. This imaginary world is curious and strange. Bees dance, the sun shines, and a strange city lies ahead in the distant valley. Imagination fuels my creation and invites the viewer to step into a fantastical world.
Exhibition Dates: August 17th through September 21st 2024 at the South Haven Center for the Arts
32nd Annual Milford Memories: Art in the Village Exhibiting Artist, 2024
I was honored to be an Exhibiting Artist at the 32nd Annual Milford Memories: Art in the Village (2024). My booth featured a vibrant collection of mixed media works, from colorful abstract paintings to layered textural pieces, celebrating memory, mystery, and the spiritual. It was a joy to connect with the community, share my creative process, and showcase artwork that invites conversation, imagination, and reflection.
Exhibition Dates: August 9th through August 11th, 2024
Layers of Hope: Episcopal Church and Visual Arts (ECVA), 2024
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.
This Exhibit was on Display through ECVA in 2024
Holy Presence: Episcopal Church and Visual Arts (ECVA), 2024
This Exhibit was on Display through ECVA in 2024
Every Picture Tells a Story 75th Annual Themed Exhibition
@South Haven Center for the Arts
For the member’s call Every Picture Tells a Story, I created five works inside picture frames, removing the original 2D images and using the frames to inspire new narratives. I didn’t stay within their borders; instead, I expanded outward, turning the frames into vessels for 3D reliefs. Choosing two for the exhibit was difficult, but I selected Good Saint Ann and Number 3 for their shared voice, unity, and their assemblage echoes of times past—inviting viewers to remember and retell their own stories.
Number 3, 2024
Good Saint Anne, 2024
Exhibition Dates: May 11th through June 15th, 2024
Fields of Vision Regional Juried Fine Arts Exhibition, 2024
Not thrilled by the coming of winter. I don’t like to be cold. It is beautiful, though. Capturing the beauty offsets the chill. I do like the way things settle down during the wintry months. January and February come with a quieting. This year, maybe I’ll embrace the ground frost.
The exhibition will be on display in CTAC-Petoskey’s Gilbert Gallery
Exhibition Dates: January 13 to February 24, 2024
Faith in Motion: Episcopal Church and Visual Arts (ECVA), 2023
I’ve never done much in the way of video editing. I played around with the software and accidentally made discoveries that said it better than I intended. I set out to weave a “collection” of still images together- starting with the images and video and then adding the audio. When I started layering other sounds with the audio track (the sounds of the birds, the wind, and other creatures) my theme, This Is God,” became clear.
This Exhibit was on Display through ECVA in 2023
International Society of Experimental Artists’ International Juried Exhibition:
ISEA Utterly Unfathomable and Powerfully Profound, 2023
I enshrined several pieces of memorabilia on my painting surface- atypical choices driven by nostalgia instead of aesthetics: a timepiece, a button from my mother’s jacket, and a pin that was in my father’s memory box. Normally, I paint on a canvas, but this time I used multilayered cardboard. I peeled back the top layer from sections of the cardboard to reveal a layer of “honeycombs” underneath. I experimented with epoxy resin by filling the “combs” with dripping epoxy “honey.” I found some bee corpses inside my yellow jacket traps. I was glad for the loss of the jackets (I’m highly allergic), but I mourned the carpenter bees. This “mourning” triggered my first attempt at taxidermy and the subsequent incorporation of this experimentation into my work. I successfully removed the remaining debris from the abdomens of the carpenter bees, preserved them in resin, and placed them in and around the honeycombs. They are now a much-needed sign of hope amidst nostalgia and mourning.
Much Needed Signs of Hope and New Life, 2023
Honored to Share My Art with the First Presbyterian Church of NYC
My works Beneath It All and Much Needed Signs of Hope and New Life were featured in various bulletins and publications by First Presbyterian Church in the City of New York. Selected for their contemplative and uplifting themes, these pieces supported the church’s visual ministry during seasons of reflection and renewal.
Beneath It All and Much Needed Signs of Hope and New Life, 2023
2023 Small Works All Media National Juried Exhibition
I would never have imagined that I would find myself on the outside. My old beliefs gave me a sense of belonging and my beliefs were validated by the people around me. That was when I was thinking inside the box. Now, I am “Outside the Box”: a misfit, outlier, dissenter, and even a bit of a deviant. I could have kept the box closed, folded all the simmering thoughts away, and locked the box tight. Instead, I let it open, and I let myself try life outside of it. The bud represents the unfurling of new thoughts, beliefs, and convictions lying within me and on the precipice of being released. The burgeoning flower in the box represents the unfolding of my mind. This unfolding is a flourishing of what was once buried. “Old Me” and “New Me.”
Outside the Box
Old Me, New Me
Exhibition Dates: November 10th through December 16th, 2023 at the Northville Art House
South Haven Center for the Arts Guest Juror
Experimentation, Exploration, and Exuberance: Give It a Try!
Alisa E. Clark, Juror for “Give it a Try!”, is an avid acrylic painter, sculptor, collage maker, and experimental assemblage artist who believes all artists can all benefit from stepping outside of their comfort zone and plunging into the experimental. With the opportunity to share exploratory works with other artists and the community, new discoveries sprout. The call to “Give it a try!” is an invitation to share new ideas and techniques through the creation and sharing of experimental works. Artists can answer this call by creating with a new medium, trying an unfamiliar artistic discipline, or creating something for a brand-new purpose: the possibilities for multi-media experimentation are endless. You get to decide how you will “Give It a Try!”
Exhibition Dates: September 30 through November 4, 2023 at the South Haven Center for the Arts
Guest Artist & Presenter at Suzanne Haskew Art Center:
“Things to Consider When Art Making” (2023)
On Wednesday, June 28, the Village Fine Arts Center in Milford, Michigan hosted an inspiring art workshop open to the public. The evening began with a casual mingle at 6:30 p.m., followed by a thought-provoking presentation at 7:00 p.m. The speaker, Alisa E. Clark, explored “Things to Consider When Art Making,” encouraging artists to trust their creative process, let go of self-judgment, and create with confidence. Attendees left feeling more connected, motivated, and open to the possibilities within their own artistic journeys.
Alisa E. Clark: Artist of the Year Juror at the Suzanne Haskew Art Center
Muskegon Museum of Art 94th Michigan Contemporary Art Exhibition
My first experience scuba diving left me wanting to touch everything I saw. Touching, however, is not allowed. I added 3D fiber elements to this 2D painting to rediscover the wonders I saw in the deep waters and allow myself to finally touch them.
Beneath It All, 2022
Exhibition Dates: September 28th through November 8th, 2023 at the Muskegon Museum of Art
Under the Big Top National Juried Exhibition
Ten Rides on the Carousel, 2023
Exhibition Dates: July 15th, 2023 at the Vestige Concept Gallery in Pittsburgh, PA
2023 Genesis International Juried Exhibition
In Partnership with the Jewish Art Salon and CARAVAN, NYC, New York
My most recent body of work explores the theme of liminality. This theme, in great part, is concerned with the passing of time. “Time and Space” is about inception: when nothing became something. I tried to capture “the beginnings” that came from what, I imagine, was a completely empty space. This is what I see when I close my eyes and imagine that the clock just started ticking.
Time and Space, 2019
Artistic Initiative of the Jewish Art Salon in partnership with CARAVAN
Exhibition Dates: May 1st, 2023 at the Interchurch Center in NYC, NY
Genesis: The Beginning of Creativity
Regional Juried Exhibition at the Kavanagh Gallery: From the Earth
My father was a scientist. He supplied me with a microscope and a rotating supply of slides to study: cells, algae, and other snippets from nature. We’d dig for slide samples from the earth or in the pond. “Under the Microscope” is inspired by all the strange and wonderful things I discovered. We also scraped the bottom of the pond with a strainer. We brought up tadpoles, and I studied their growth under various conditions. Arms and legs sprouted. Sometimes, a mutation emerged. “Look What Crawled Out of the Earth” is influenced by my many strange discoveries. I will often hunt for natural elements that interest me: unusual finds that remind me of my nature studies with Dad. “From the Earth” is a call that provided an opportunity to pick from my “finds” and then recreate my past discoveries. Artistic license freed me to add a twist of imagination to my creations. My unconventional choices were fueled by the surprises unearthed beneath the lens of my old microscope.
Under the Microscope and Look What Crawled Out of the Earth, 2023
Exhibition Dates: Opens June 29th, 2023 at the Kavanagh Gallery
The Art of a Story ~ 13th Annual National Juried Exhibit
I used a book I had written about my painting process to create “Memories.” The chance to capture “Memories” in 3D required me to alter the original text to add depth and dimension. I had to put aside my 2D canvases and find a new way to move in and out of space. Similarly, I decided to use a book that I once wrote about my art process as my canvas. “Journey” was made from this personal story. I altered it and embellished it with dimensional elements holding deep personal meaning. 3D expressions of my story let the viewer move through moments that have happened, are happening, and are to come. This creates an awareness of time shifting and changing: a liminal experience. This new process helps me better journey to Back Then, Right Now, and towards Tomorrow. Altering my autobiographical stories helped me express myself from many perspectives simultaneously.
Memories and Journey, 2023
Exhibition Dates: Opens on June 9th, 2023 at the Village Theatre Art Gallery, Danville, CA
Journey was Featured on the Carousel at the Top of the Gallery Page
ECVA: The Power in Creating a Series
I imagined the world as it began. Beauty springing forth from nothing. Time nonexistent and then existing. Liminality birthed. I then made several attempts at recreating it: what happened “in the beginning.” The first piece, Genesis 1, was intended to be five individual sculptures of angels in a series culminating in a final piece incorporating all the angels poised around a glowing “new earth.” The butterflies in all four pieces are a reference to creatures “that may fly above the earth.” Genesis 1-4 are all on rotating bases made from wood and stained to appear as though covered in water. I have spent most of my life painting, but my new explorations in sculpture allowed me to capture more of what I imagine when I read Genesis 1. My favorite 3D part of all these pieces is the “glow.” The use of literal LED “light” (for me) captures a greater sense of God’s presence and power “in the beginning.”
Genesis 1-4, 2023
Genesis 4 was featured inside the Episcopal Journal and Cafe
This Exhibit was on Display through ECVA in 2023
Great Northern Art Explosion International Juried Exhibition
“Genesis 2 and Plastic Menagerie, 2023
Exhibition Dates: AuSable Artisan Village, from August 25th to September 10th, 2023
2022 Small Works Juried All Media National Exhibition
Using color, form, and line, I create in the present while wondering about Yesterday. I also seize “Right Now” while peeking into “What’s Next.” My liminal creations in this exhibit invite you to join me on creative, imaginative journeys through time and space. These works are little adventures in the “Here and Now.”
“Swimming Deeper” and “Unexpected Choices,” 2022
Exhibition Dates: Northville Art House from November 12th through December 17th, 2022
Merged: d'Art's Third National Exhibition of Collage and Assemblage
I used both collage and assemblage to create my way through “My Journey.” I have included Yesterday, Right Now, and Tomorrow all at once through my creative process. I used gelli plate collage papers to cover the flaps and doors that open and close. I also incorporated hand drawings on paper and a reimagined lamp base, so the assemblage can spin with the turn of your hand. I wanted the viewer to move through time, place, and space. Doing this three dimensionally and interactively creates an awareness of time shifting and changing: a liminal experience.
My Journey, 2022
Exhibition Dates: January 7, 2023 through Saturday, February 4, 2023 at the D’Art Center
Muskegon Museum of Art 93rd Michigan Contemporary Art Exhibition
The paper flowers that wrap around this sculpture are meant to evoke a feeling of life bursting from the earth in spring. They are covered with a light dusting of snow which appears to be melting. This sculpture spins on its base and has a wind-up music box that plays the song “Edelweiss.”
Edelweiss, 2022
Exhibition Dates: Muskegon Museum of Art from October 6th through November 3rd
Innovations 2022 Annual International Open Juried Exhibition
International Society of Experimental Artists (ISEA)
I wanted to paint myself from the inside out. No flat canvas: Must work in 3D. I also needed portals: doors, sky, air, water, and a way to move in and out of a space. Experimenting with 2D and 3D expressions of these gateways was wholly necessary. This is my “old style” mixed with a new execution.
Self Portrait, 2022
“Self-Portrait” is on exhibit at the Art Gallery of St. Albert, in St. Alberta, Canada from August 18th through October 1st, 2022
Everything Folds and Unfolds Regional Juried Exhibition
These two sculptures represent the unfurling of new thoughts, beliefs, and convictions lying within me and on the precipice of being released. The burgeoning flower in one box represents the unfolding of my mind. This unfolding is a flourishing of what was once buried: “Old Me” and “New Me.” My old beliefs gave me a sense of belonging and my beliefs were validated by the people around me. That was when I was thinking inside the box. Now, I am “Outside the Box”: a misfit, outlier, dissenter, and even a bit of a deviant. I could have kept the box closed, folded all the simmering thoughts away, and locked the box tight. Instead, I let it open, and I let myself try life outside of it.
“Outside the Box” and “Old Me, New Me,” 2022
Exhibition Dates: South Haven Center for the Arts from September 23rd through November 5th, 2022
(re)bound: the altered book International Juried Exhibition
I painted my way through my journey. I have included Yesterday, Right Now, and Tomorrow all at once. The flaps and doors that open and close let the viewer move through space, time, and place. Doing this three dimensionally creates an awareness of time shifting and changing: a liminal experience.
My Journey, 2022
Exhibition Dates: South Haven Center for the Arts, June 10 through July 23, 2022
A2AC Gallery Exhibit Juried Call
The A2AC Gallery is in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The gallery exhibits works which support its goal to “emerge as a catalyst for connection, conversation, and creative exploration through participation.” Alisa E. Clark’s work will be on display and for sale at A2AC throughout the 2022-2023 exhibition year.
In the Ocean and Time and Space, 2022
Exhibition Dates: A2AC Gallery in downtown Ann Arbor, Michigan, 2022-2023
Composer and Pianist, Margin Alexander, Performs to Alisa E. Clark's Painting, "Funny Little Birds"
This 2022 Performance is Filmed from the South Oxford Theater in Brooklyn, NY
The entire Performance features several artist’s works combined with Margin Alexander’s musical compositions. It will be projected outside, at a future date, for the NYC community to experience.
University of North Carolina’s CAB Gallery National Exhibition, 2022
It’s not what I thought it was. As the events of the past year have unfolded, I have had to refine what I believe. Now, I find myself where I don’t belong, and it’s a place that I once thought was home. I am leaving disillusioned.
Disillusioned, 2021
The last year has changed me. Everything I was taught, everything I believed to be true, and everything I once put my hope in no longer adds up. It’s all one giant contradiction.
Contradiction, 2021
Protest Signs Exhibition:
Exhibition Dates: February 24th through April 1st, 2022
Episcopal Church and Visual Arts 2022 Exhibitions
This collage of works for three 2022 ECVA calls includes images for the Sacrament and Image, Everywhere I Look, and Praying the Hours exhibitions. Answering ECVA calls since 2010, I have been offered multiple ways to explore a deeper understanding of “of an ever-evolving, transcending spirituality” through my creative process. With each call, I make art that pushes me. The process always leaves me changed and connects me with art makers who aren’t afraid to explore hard questions and seek for deeper answers.
2023 Expectations and Epiphany Exhibit
2022 Praying the Hours Exhibit
2022 Everywhere I Look Exhibit
2022 Sacrament and Image Exhibit
ISEA Making Our Marks Exhibit, 2022
Getting 25 surrealistic approaches to work together on one canvas was daunting, but I was changed by the experience. Some of the elements got completely buried on my painting surface. Others remained front and center. As I played with the different approaches, I realized that my “usual” would never be the same again. The result feels odd to me. In the spirit of surrealism, this piece is strange. I don’t recognize this new artist. Is that really me?
Is That Really Me?, 2021
2022 Making Our Marks Exhibit with the International Society of Experimental Artists
ECVA Stories from the Road, 2022
I painted this vision from 2014 to sear its resulting epiphany into my heart with my paintbrush, so I will never forget. This, I attained to some degree. That is very good because this is what I have left at my spiritual bottom. This Christmas, and every Christmas to come, this will be the place from which I glean my faith.
From Where I Glean My Faith, 2021
I fell to my knees before Him, and I said, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” I was full of regret for my impatience, my choices, and my failures. I was crying and pleading with Jesus to forgive me. I begged Him to touch me. He reached out and placed His hands on my head, and I was hopeful that He would make me better. He touched my head, my neck, my stomach: every place that was broken. I ached to be healed.
I’m Sorry, 2021
I fell to my knees before Him and said, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
This Exhibit was on Display through ECVA in 2022
Rockland Visual Arts Festival, New York, 2022
130 Talented Artists and Performers
Look beyond the red door and see what you can find. There are little, hidden surprises here: buried in time and memory but, like magic, can be rediscovered on my canvas. I paint to dig it all back up and remember.
Beyond the Red Door, 2021
Live Festival Dates: January 22nd through February 7th, 2022
International Society of Experimental Artists' International Juried Exhibition
ISEA Utterly Unfathomable and Powerfully Profound, 2021
My choices are about expressing my inner experience. I could care less about being conventional. I need a color for all my uncertainty and a texture for all my grief. What can I find for my canvas that points me towards new understanding? I have this jacket that was Mom’s. I slip pieces of it onto my canvas. I draw the front door from my childhood home, and I tuck it away in the shadows of my work. I draw these funny little birds that squawk, tumble, spin, and teeter on the surface of my creation. I see that each bird is me as I tumultuously try to find solid ground. I do this all for hours: choosing colors, shapes, objects, and significance. Words wrap the canvas, but they are garbled and seemingly senseless. I wonder if others will think I have lost my mind? These are odd choices, but I didn’t mean to do something out of the ordinary. I was just lost in the process. I guess you could say this work was one big experiment, but that wasn’t the plan. This is simply what came out of me.
Funny Little Birds
The Quarantine Artwork of the Artists of ECVA, 2021
Alisa looks back on a lifetime of art making, and she sees creativity’s gift of “flow” during the countless times of sitting and waiting for time to do its work within her. She sees that her creative process was with her whether the hands of time moved too fast or too slow. She also notices that in the most challenging times—the moments when time seemed not to move at all—her creative process was her great companion. When engaged in this process, Alisa’s has her most profound spiritual experiences. Art is a gift that provides her much connectedness, meaning, and joy.
This Exhibit was on Display through ECVA in 2021
St. Vincent College Verostko Arts Center, 2021
International Juried Exhibition
September 6th through October 29th, 2021
I am enraptured by the idea that Mary carried God incarnate inside her womb. I like to think that this supplied enough holy power to ignite a spiritual fire inside her. I painted “Madonna on Fire” with the same wonderment I had as a child. She’s not God but she birthed Him. How could she not glow from the inside out? I believe Mary was ablaze and that’s why, and how, I painted her.
Madonna on Fire, 2019
Exhibition Dates: September 6th through October 29th, 2021
Learn about “Madonna On Fire” in David Brinker’s Lecture Here:
Learn More About the Vertosko Art Center Here:
International Society of Experimental Artists 2021 International Exhibition
This canvas originally had a painting on it that always bothered me but was more classical and “acceptable” in style. People liked it. I recently threw every impulse I had on top of it, and completely recreated the original work. I used new materials with intensity: cold wax, handmade collage papers, torn pieces from old documents and memorabilia, and textured mediums. I don’t have a focal point: naughty. I used black and texture liberally: intrusive. There are so many things I was trained to do that I threw out. No one conventional would even consider hanging it on their wall. I was asked why I didn’t make it look real and keep it the way it was. Why? Because I will vomit if I stick with what’s expected for even a second longer. I just can’t do it anymore. Impulse is telling me that it’s time to investigate, explore, and break the rules. I let loose when I made this painting. It will likely lead to little approval, but at least I am satisfied.
Go Back, Move Forward, 2020
Mission Point Resort, Mackinac Island, MI
Exhibition Opening: September 3rd, 2021
Las Laguna Gallery International Exhibition, 2021
I peer into the oven where my father kept the cookies. I hear the squeak of the oven door opening. I smell chocolate and vanilla. This magical oven and its magical cookies are stuff long forgotten. I reach to seize it and remember. I paint and then go forward to “What’s Next.”
Stuff Long Forgotten, 2021
Exhibition Dates: Opens on January 7th, 2021
Edward A. Dixon Gallery International Juried Exhibition, 2021
I paint what fascinates me. I explore memories. I find joy in the present moment. I paint it as I see it. It all makes my “Right Now” a good place to be.
I Find Joy, 2021
SHCA 2020 Artist and Artisan Holiday Gallery
“My dad planted hundreds of little pine trees in his passion to preserve beauty. These trees are now happy little reminders of Dad now that he’s gone. Every little pine tree I see washes me with a little comfort and joy.”
Collection of Small Works by Alisa E. Clark, 2020
View the Blog and Video Spotlight Here:
Meet Mistletoe Market Artist Alisa E. Clark
View the Gallery Here: https://www.southhavenarts.org/virtual
Fantastical Flora and Fauna Regional Juried Exhibition, 2020
This space is loaded with significance. It teems with things that are deeply meaningful for me. I paint the “Space Between” what once was and now is. My studio is now full of odds and ends that I cut, glue, mix with paint, and apply to a canvas. What springs forth is my garden full of memories.
Space Between, 2020
Exhibition Dates: Opening on September 25th, 2020
South Haven Center for the Arts
The Color of Music Art Exhibit, 2020
I make art, and I do my best to do it my way: honestly. The more I create, the more I know my song.
I Know My Song, 2020
A show of works from across the country no larger than 10 inches in any direction.
d'Art Center National Competition, 2020
I want people to see a universe inside this painting: a universe where everyone is called to display their uniqueness and diversity. I want you to see a world where a person’s honest attempt at authenticity is held high: a place for everyone everywhere. Look. See what I see.
Norfolk, VA, National Finalist
Theme: Mental Health Awareness
Everyone, 2020
39th Annual Michigan Regional Fine Arts Competition
As we all wait for what’s next, the present moment is causing us all anxiety and grief. We can’t even trust in simple necessities as we once did. Despite today’s realities, I have a canvas that speaks something unexpected and surprising. I have one place where hope can say, “Hello.”
Hello, Hope, 2020
39th Annual Michigan Fine Arts Competition: Finalist, 2020
(Birmingham Bloomfield Arts Center, Birmingham, MI)
Small Works National Juried Exhibition
323 Buena Vista, NY is about a door and the people who have entered it. Painting it helps me in my process of accepting—accepting that I won’t be able to use this door for very much longer. I paint to continue turning the knob of this door, and the knobs of the doors beyond this door, so I can see what was once on the other side. I am stuck here, so I paint it over and over and over again, so I can find my way back.
Portals- Small Works National Juried Exhibition: National Finalist, 2020
(Alex Ferrone Gallery, Cutchogue, NY)
323 Buena Vista, NY, 2019
Yale School of Divinity Reflections Magazine Cover Art
Alisa’s work is featured on the cover of this Reflections Magazine issue.
Click on this link to read the magazine’s article about the cover art: https://reflections.yale.edu/article/spirit-and-politics-finding-our-way/our-shared-hope
ECVA Exhibition: Universal Christ
This piece began as an attempt to illustrate a vision I once had. In it, Jesus showed me that despite all the voices (the voices inside my head and the voices spoken by others), I was good enough. In the vision, Jesus took me out into the water. In this moment I understood the vision was symbolic of cleansing through water and Christ’s shed blood. Jesus pushed me down under the water. I didn’t resist, because I trusted Him even though I was afraid. When I came up out of the water, I was on the other side: I was in Heaven. It was immeasurable peace to be in a place where no one judged me including myself.
I failed in all my efforts to capture the details of this vision in this painting. Instead, all you see is the water and the blood Jesus used to show me that I am not the voices I hear. This makes me think about all the judgements we make about people: whether what they believe is right or wrong and whether what they do is right or wrong. This vision I had was a real thing. It was Jesus Christ communicating with me. It really happened and it came with a message. I can still hear His voice saying, “I made you and you are mine. You are “right” no matter what anyone else says or what you believe about yourself. All this judgement and criticism the world is speaking has nothing to do with Me. I am the God of the universe and I am your God. Despite what anyone says, I made you and you are good. I say you are “right” and I don’t make mistakes.”
If Jesus says that I am NOT the voices I hear, then this is also true for others. If He says he doesn’t make mistakes, then the way he made me and you is “right.” Our beautiful variety, that the world so often tries to squelch, is good. The God of the universe made all of us and we are washed daily in His water and blood. My painting isn’t meant to speak of freedom to do wrong. We were not made to hurt others or ourselves. Instead, I meant it to speak of the freedom that we have in Christ to reflect our uniqueness. We are as unique as every possible color an artist could mix on their pallet: endless possibilities. We represent the vastness of God’s vastness. It’s why we are different in how we look, how we think and how we choose to live our lives. In our uniqueness we represent Him well. We are part of His universe and He is our Christ.
Part of His Universe, 2019
This Exhibit was on Display through ECVA in 2020
ECVA Exhibition on Worship
Artist’s Statement: Greek by descent and Greek Orthodox by baptism, I learned early on that Mary has special power. In the Orthodox Church, Mary is given the title “Theotokos” which is Greek for “Birth-giver-of-God.” That phrase in itself is power packed. I was spiritually educated in Catholic schools, where I spoke the words “blessed art thou among women” enough times to continue believing in the holy power of Mary’s blessedness. My early fascination with her has stuck. I am enraptured by the idea that Mary carried God incarnate inside her womb. I like to think that this supplied enough holy power to ignite a spiritual fire inside her. I painted “Mary on Fire” with the same wonderment I had as a child. She’s not God but she birthed Him. How could she not glow from the inside out? I believe she was ablaze and that’s why, and how, I paint her.
Madonna On Fire, 2019
ECVA Exhibit on Suffering
Artist Statement: I am uncomfortable about what my dad did as a scientist. He was a good man. He was a loving father. He made personal sacrifices to help others. However, he brought living things suffering. What if the price of his research was more than a rat? Maybe there were monkeys suffering in one of his labs, but I just didn’t see them on Take Your Child to Work Day? Does this make a difference? Where do we draw the line? What my dad and other scientists did came with a price, and we didn’t pay it.
In fact, we don’t suffer as much because of it. Would I want a person with rheumatoid arthritis to give up their pain relievers so fish, mice, rats and monkeys don’t have to pay the price? I’m not sure what God would want, but I know that I keep taking ibuprofen when I need it. When my child is in pain, I offer it to them. This is why we don’t suffer and I reticently admit that I am grateful. I use my paintbrush to capture it all: both the good and the bad. I accept the tension and I share it on my canvas.
Why We Don’t Suffer, 2019
ECVA Exhibit on Telling God Stories
Artist’s Statement: I’m revisiting this piece of art because my childhood home is up for sale. In a few months I can go back to 323 Buena Vista Road through art I’ve made, but never again will I be able to visit my birthplace as it once was. That’s why, even though this exhibit is from the ECVA Archives, it speaks to me today.
The collage elements inside this artwork belong to me. I did not use someone else’s content to share on this canvas. I needed it to be this way. I needed every word and image to speak of my story. In the background are images from my past: art I made about my life and my experiences.
The images are all of things that matter deeply to me. In the foreground, you will see the wrought iron bed from my parents’ bedroom. It now sits empty, but there were 60 years of them sleeping in it together. Only God can make that happen. My story is always about the way God is always in my story. Look and you will find Him. He is covering every inch of my canvas.
Transformed, 2017
Exhibit Archives
ECVA Intersections, 2012
Episcopal Church of the Visual Arts Open Studio 2012 Exhibition
Episcopal Church of the Visual Arts Open Studio 2011 Exhibition
Episcopal Church of the Visual Arts Open Studio 2010 Exhibition
Dancing in the Doghouse Readings by Alisa E. Clark
MEA Art Acquisitions Juried Exhibit
2013 (East Lansing, MI)
Small Matters of Great Importance
2000 (Edward Hopper House, Nyack, NY)
Snow Den Gallery
Works on Exhibit, 1998 (West Dover, VT)
Art in Bloom Juried Exhibition
1996 (Hopper House, Nyack, NY)
Hayloft Gallery
Works on Exhibit, 1996 (West Dover, VT)
30 Bond Street
Works on Exhibit, 1994-1995 (New York, NY)
Art on the Common Juried Exhibition
Honorable Mention, 1995 (Highland Mills, NY)
Michigan Literary Network and Dancing in the Doghouse