Joe Clarke/Dark Ballad Designs

I am a New Zealand based artist and recent MA graduate exploring mixed media techniques with an emphasis on printmaking methods. My aim is to use these mediums to create discussion about mental health issues like anxiety and depression, particularly in the times of COVID-19.

While my work is primarily print based, my process is very experimental and often results in mixed media work that combines many contrasting techniques and aesthetics into one work. With my recent self-portraiture work, it is not uncommon to find elements of screen print, pastel, embossing, collage, watercolour, as well as woodcut included within the same piece of work. 

Using ideas inspired by Freudian psychoanalytic theories such as the uncanny, doppelgangers and the unconscious, as well as strong influence from media like film and video games, my work aims to invoke a sense of altered reality or perception and challenges the viewer to confront themselves and become complicit in the work. 

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Since I was very young, I have always been fascinated by the world of horror. Perusing the covers of horror movies I was years too young to rent at the video store was more exciting to me than actually watching the newest releases. Over the years, the fascination developed into a passion and eventually into my current career.

Studying Visual Art at ARA (A New Zealand polytechnic) helped me to bring the ideas that were festering in my head for years, to life. Being exposed to new techniques like the various printmaking methods and having access to a wide range of tools and equipment allowed me to develop the skills necessary to create work that matched the macabre landscape of my mind. 

The skills I have developed during my time studying art have given me many unique opportunities in the “real world”. A few years ago, I started working as an art tutor at Ōtautahi Creative Spaces. OCS is a specialist creative wellbeing initiative in Christchurch, New Zealand supporting people with experience of mental distress. We do this through studio groups, artist mentoring, collaborative projects, and exhibitions.

Since graduating with my Masters in 2021, I have been taking part in various exhibitions and projects. These installations and shows have allowed me to show the world what a lifetime of being influenced by psychological horror from many contrasting mediums looks like.