Steven John Clark - A Stonemason's Guide to Crafting Art
Steven John Clark is a Scottish artist based in Melbourne, Australia, well known for developing sculptures and going beyond the limits to work on exciting materials, especially stones. Clark started his career as a stonemason, and now his uniquely designed pieces are the ultimate stonemasonry guide to crafting art. Steven spoke with Yoko Choy about his life journey and pure admiration for stones that led to the creation of beautiful art pieces out of stone. The Scottish artist revealed his new upcoming work, which will display in Dubai.
Picture by Mitch Fong
Yoko: Hello everyone. Today we have Scottish artist Steven John Clark with us.
Hello, Steven, how are you?
Steven: Hello? How are you doing?
Yoko: I'm very well. Where are you speaking with us from today?
Steven: I'm in Melbourne, Australia.
Yoko: This is where you are based, right?
Steven: Yeah. I've been based here for nearly 11 years now.
Yoko: Oh, wow. Cool. So tell us something about yourself.
What do you do? Where are you from, and why are you in Melbourne now?
Steven: My wife and I came over here about 11 years ago. It was only meant to be for a holiday, but we ended up really loving Melbourne and decided to stay. It was only meant to be a short visit. We were planning to move back to London after finishing university in Manchester to continue our design journey, but it never worked that way. We find ourselves here now. It's been a bit of a journey, a very winding road to get me to this stage at this moment in time.
Yoko: Yeah, I bet this is a very beautiful and different atmosphere there in Melbourne.
Tell us about your story and work/career.
Steven: I think the story really starts out way back when I left school at 16 because, at that moment in time, I had no idea about what to do. For instance, if somebody had told me at 16 that I was going to be making sculptures of stone, painting, and similar things, I would have told them that they were pretty much a liar because I was heavily into playing soccer at that time. And I really thought that my destination is to become a professional football player.
Let's go at 16 when I became a stonemason, but then quite quickly, 2 to 3 years later, I was getting tired of living in my small village. And I had been going out to a lot of festivals, music festivals, and stuff. When I was at these festivals, a lot of people were wearing like mad, costumes and things. I thought of myself attempting to make costumes using my granny's sewing machine, and soon after, I started making these things for my friends, which led me to get actually inspired by fashion.
I decided to apply for a college course in Glasgow. It came quite a bit strange to my family and friends, I went from being a football player and stonemason in a small village to fashion. I came from a small village in Scotland, it's a collection of towns with 600 people only, and my decision caught friends/family off guard. I studied fashion for textiles at Glasgow and ended up doing just textiles. Before coming to Melbourne, I completed my embroidery degree from Manchester and left behind everything I worked on and worked as a stonemason for five to six years. I started feeling itchy for not doing any creative stuff 4 to 5 years back, and that's when I got a chance to make a stone plinth for my wife's friend that everyone appreciated. That's when I thought to go further in the stone plinth and start making it more often.
YOKO: This stone plinth is a relatively new area for you, right?
STEVEN: I have been doing stone plinths for only about four and five years, but I am really doing good in it.
YOKO: Wow! Congratulations, the work you have done is amazing.
STEVEN: Thank you.
YOKO: How would you define the job of a stonemason and its work?
Help us understand what a stonemason does? What was the work like?
STEVEN: Mainly, there were two types of stonemasons in the company where I used to work in Scotland at the age of 16 for a couple of years. The first one was the banker stonemason, who works from scratch on marble, sculpts to carve and mold into different shapes, particularly for Scotland's historic building projects. The other stonemason is the one doing all the installation of stones, and I was more into this field installing the marbles. I had a strong background in brick links and applied my skills to laying the stones. Interestingly, when I left stonemasonry at the age of 19 to study fashion, I thought of never touching the stones again, but eventually, I found a creative way through stones.
YOKO: Your work is thorough and free that requires mastery skills and experience you built from your career.
Can you explain your views on your work which you say is a response to the uniformity and perfection of the design industry?
STEVEN: I decided to leave work as a stonemason, I wasn't exactly sure what to pursue, and then I established myself around making objects from stones. There was a lot of pressure to make money from art, that's how I started making plant pots and furniture object pieces. I have always been caught up with how and even though an extremely gifted craftsman making a perfect table, perfect enough that a robot can make it. I have seen myself made and coming from a different angle to give things of imperfection with a bit more character.
I name all my pieces so people can find a relationship between them. If they don't find a relationship with an object, with the idea of fast fashion and fast furniture, they will leave it once they move to a new home. I make pieces considering the emotional attachment with all its imperfections, and even if it gets chipped, it still carries the same worth like we used to have the old cars with a pet name.
YOKO: I really liked the way you name your workpieces, and it's a very subtle thing to do.
How and from these names come from you give to your pieces?
STEVEN: Most of the names are inspired by the actual names of family members and could be a good combination of ridiculous names to bring humor so it can bring a smile and a good laugh. The purpose is to get a positive gesture with a smile/laugh out of them, the same way you did.
YOKO: What's the name of the work behind you on the wall?
STEVEN: It's a PCR named "Flowers for Gary."
YOKO: This is from one of your recent shows, right?
STEVEN: Yes, correct.
YOKO: Can you tell us something about this recent show and the PCR work behind you?
STEVEN: I have three components of my work, denHolm for furniture object pieces, Steven John Clark for generally everything, and just recently paintings. I added resin polystyrene pieces to the paintings I have done during the COVID pandemic to form a stone flower out of it that could never die. It was a nicely done stone flower initially made only 10 of them as a one-time shot, but audience response and connection to it motivate us to make a few more. That's how it happens when you have certain motives, and it stretches out to form something beautiful.
YOKO: Nice! You mentioned this is your first piece with resin, right?
STEVEN: Yes.
YOKO: Mainly, you have worked with stones having a long relationship with them. How do you see this resin material? Why does it seem special to you?
STEVEN: Generally speaking, I get excited by all materials and do not restrict myself to only one type of material. I have the skills and knowledge that allow me to approach material from a different angle. The background I have from fashion textile helps me going from other angles and use hand skills to naturally design a piece, spending a lot of time with the stone. I am working on so many other things, and the work I have done so far is the beginning of what I plan to do. Sometimes with the involvement of certain things make it difficult to finish my work. My admiration for stones is unique as it doesn't restrict me from completing them.
YOKO: How do you start the creative process from the idea to the final object? Especially when you start exploring new material in a new way of producing or creating?
STEVEN: I start my work with a basic sketching or a continuous line type sketch to get more tips and discover different types of motives for the work item and new materials. I am working on new material to make mirrors out of it, till now it is not working as I thought, but it's an interesting process of finding new material.
YOKO: It is very exciting to explore all the new unknown.
STEVEN: Absolutely, it is extremely exciting.
YOKO: How does it go if someone wants to commission a work with you?
STEVEN: You can contact us in different ways with details or pictures of the item you liked. You might like a picture posted on Instagram as social media has become a powerful tool for creative people, and when you contact me with the specifics, whether it will be a table, console, or sculpture. To further understand, I would be needed to know the space and the person whom I am making for. What I mean by knowing is the narrative of the person, preference in art, words of motives to be captured in the piece. The first step would be making some simple line sketches filled with energy, and before delivering the final product, the client has to trust based on the sketches finalized.
YOKO: I always find this process fascinating in a way creating an object together and at the same time getting trust from the client/commissioner to create with full freedom.
STEVEN: I have done a lot of interesting work, including the challenging ones with enormous pressure and questions, particularly requesting the same items that have been done before. My work does not represent replication of my own previous work even if a customer or client asks for it, I have to honor the accustomed piece and make a new one. It could be quite a battling situation to maintain it.
YOKO: It must be an exciting process for the client.
STEVEN: I feel the most pressure in the last couple of days before showing the work or handover to the client, but I enjoy this part as well.
YOKO: Do you also work with other artists? Do you collaborate with other creators?
STEVEN: I have been so busy with work and knocked out to this day. Recently we moved to a new factory which is about five times bigger than the one I first started that were two little garages. We moved to this spot in November during the COVID pandemic and lockdowns, it was a lot to tackle but interesting.
YOKO: Whom would you like to work with or collaborate with to create a piece if you get a chance?
STEVEN: When I was studying for my embroidery degree at the university, I thought of going into the fashion world, but soon after, I realize it is not the right fit for me. I came across Max Lance's work, and the way he approaches materials and the process made me think to pursue what I am doing now. The idea was somewhat the same, you grab a material, try and twist it, turn it, poke holes in it, and there are many different things that can be done. If I had the opportunity to work with anyone in the world, I would say it is Max Lance, as he always approaches objects, pieces of furniture, or pieces in a different way.
YOKO: Cool. You had inspiration from his work and got ideas from everyone.
STEVEN: I would love to have the opportunity to work with some big businesses and turn material that they have through those same processes, I would love to take the privilege to work on a large scale.
YOKO: Cool. How is the creative scene in Melbourne, Australia?
How is it like being an artist and creating a living in Australia?
STEVEN: I never got an opportunity to work as a creative back home in Scotland or in Britain. I can only say what it's like really here. I have a few friends that worked in the industry back home, but nobody really wants to give anything away from the value and keep a hold of it. Melbourne is great, everyone is really super friendly and quite a small community.
Ever since I started, I have been backed quite heavily with a lot of support from people in Melbourne and Australia. There is some great stuff coming out of Melbourne and Australia, it seems to be a real quiet growing market. A lot is popping up all over the world now, which is quite exciting.
YOKO: How is it like for you to communicate your work?
Have you encountered any geographical limitations or problems while communicating your work?
Or there is no problem with social media and online platforms?
STEVEN: I have not faced any problem in terms of communicating my work as social media strongly helps to communicate visually. The key is to get the confidence of the customer in the piece and guarantee of shipping over. Sometimes the price point can blow out as the stones are quite heavy, but it naturally happens over time. My wife keeps me updated on what is happening from social media, and social media is an extremely powerful app.
YOKO: Very true.
Will you be showing your work for the first time in Dubai?
STEVEN: Yes!
YOKO: Cool. What kind of message do you want to bring to the audience there in Dubai?
How would you like them to see your work or to perceive your work?
STEVEN: That is an interesting question, I never thought of it before. I hope when somebody sees my eye-catching pieces, they spend some time trying to understand what it is all about.
For example, if it is a 360-degree piece, and someone just walks by, it is difficult to understand what is really happening. I really hope people get the motto, idea behind the object they see. The idea behind the pieces is a bit of a journey, and hopefully, the viewer will spend a lot of time looking at it.
YOKO: Alright, we are very much looking forward to this new journey and experience with you.
STEVEN: Thank you.
YOKO: Thank you so much for taking time with us today. We will speak more when your piece arrives in Dubai.
STEVEN: I am very excited and look forward to it.
YOKO: Thank you so much. Have a good day!
STEVEN: Bye!
