The Power Plant

This work by Tkaronto (Toronto)-based artist June Clark, is a socio-historic document of a place and its people, seen through a distinctly personal lens. The work was made as part of a series of photo-etchings from the same year titled Whispering City, in which Clark brings together snippets of stencilled text with photographs of her early family life in Central Harlem, New York and Tkaronto in the 1970s and 1980s. Employing a wiping technique during the production process, she eloquently illustrates the elusive nature of memory: the way it constantly emerges and recedes. By combining the image with text drawn from familial sayings and other childhood recollections, the artist attempts to “fix” the memory, anchoring her subjective interpretation of the past to another highly personal representation. The work is evidence of Clark’s deep love of and sensitivity toward a community she has continually returned to as a subject in her practice.

This presentation coincides with the exhibition June Clark: Witness, on view at The Power Plant from May 3 to August 11, 2024.