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The art kid
Some of Clem’s earliest childhood memories involve drawing fantastical figures on the big sheets of paper her father brought home from his butcher shop.
“I was the art kid,” she said.
Encouraged by both parents, she developed a love for painting that she pursued through college and that ultimately became her professional calling.
In canvases ranging from portraits–including some of her IU Southeast colleagues—and symbolic imagery to overlays and surrealistic visions, the Barr show traced the path of Clem’s creative journey.
“I’m not entirely sure how these seemingly disparate bodies of work created over many years precisely connect in theme or design, except that I have been influenced by a passion for observation, painting processes, and a feminist worldview,” Clem has written of her selection. “I have consistently wanted to create intriguing or sometimes puzzling images imbued with a psychological resonance that would physically and viscerally draw the viewer into the work.”
Beneath the subject matter lies painting itself, an art form whose creative nuances and technical complexities are for Clem a source of ongoing fascination.
Her portraits, for example, begin as photographs that she breaks down and reassembles with PhotoShop until she feels an emotional connection with the result—that combination of composition, lighting, background, an attitude that says, “This is it”—then projects them onto the canvas for further observation and study, all prior to applying paint.
“Working in oil adds another dimension of problem-solving involving knowledge of specialized brushes and tools, mediums for paint mixing, color theory, palettes, surface preparations, construction of stretchers or panels, various types and qualities of paint, as well as paint applications,” Clem said.
Pushing for improvements
Clem had established herself in Louisville artistic circles when she joined the faculty of IU Southeast in 1995.
She had hoped to paint but immediately found herself writing. A lot. IU Southeast had a studio degree, but not a professional BFA degree that would enable students to pursue graduate studies. So she set about building academic capacity.
Brian Jones, emeritus professor of fine art, collaborated with Clem to create the BFA program, which soon became the foundation of many creative careers.
“We had very few students continue to graduate school until we implemented the BFA program,” Jones said. “Now we have many former students who have received their MFA degrees and are practicing professional artists with some teaching at the university level.”
It was Clem who helped lead the creation of the art education program, and wrote the first faculty position proposal for graphic design. Sensing the digital dawn, she was a moving force behind the first Mac lab in fine arts at IU Southeast, writing a Strategic Directions grant that not only paid for the state-of-the-art lab but also brought IU studio faculty from across the state to learn digital imaging software.
Combining artistic experience and institutional know-how, Clem has helped many colleagues expand opportunities for student learning.
“Deb inspired me to keep pushing for improvements to the ceramics area, even when I had to work through challenges to get them done,” said Brian Harper, associate professor of fine art ceramics coordinator. “She supported me in that quest but was also a sounding board as I worked through the challenges of navigating the university bureaucracy.”
Teaching and learning
Clem rejects the notion of artistic talent. For her, the elements of painting, such as light, movement forces, color and color repetition, perspective, and scale, to name a few, can all be taught.
This is the foundational truth behind her important project, The Painting Guide, a website that functions as a nuts-and-bolts resource covering every aspect of the craft.
It’s also a statement of purpose, for Clem considers herself an eternal student of a subject that cannot ever be fully known. To teach is also to learn, and Clem is quick to acknowledge that she has learned as much, if not more, from her students than they have learned from her.
That openness to new impulses is paired with a generosity of artistic spirit.
“Her recent retrospective exhibition illustrated that amazing growth of both skill and vision and the creative risks she’s taken throughout her long career,” Jones said. “She continually learns from the painting process and experience and then takes that knowledge and practice into her studio classes.”
Reconstructing reality
As accomplished as her paintings are, Clem is always on the lookout for new avenues to explore, for a deeper level of understanding.
“I’ve always been interested in virtual reality,” Clem says. “I would love my paintings to be three-dimensional, to be able to feel the presence of the subject as if it is in real space. I want to reconstruct reality.”
For her colleagues and admirers, her art is matched only by the soul of the artist.
“Deb approaches her artistic practice with unyielding curiosity and high standards of precision,” said Emily Sheehan, associate professor of fine arts drawing area head. “She is an incredible painter, but what inspires me is her generosity when sharing her experience and expertise with others.”
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