Name/Title
Mamie TillEntry/Object ID
2025.12.01Description
June Clark (b. 1941, Harlem, New York) is a Toronto-based multidisciplinary artist whose work spans photography, installation, sculpture, and text. Her practice is deeply rooted in explorations of memory, history, and Black diasporic identity, often drawing from personal archives and collective histories to examine how the past shapes lived experience.
Clark’s work frequently acts as a form of commemoration, invoking the lives of individuals who have shaped cultural and political consciousness. Through the use of found materials, photographic imagery, and hand-altered surfaces, she constructs intimate yet complex memorials that blur the boundaries between personal memory and public history.
Within this framework, Clark has paid tribute to figures such as Mamie Till-Mobley, the mother of Emmett Till, whose decision to hold an open-casket funeral in 1955 exposed the brutality of racial violence and helped catalyze the civil rights movement. Clark’s references to Till-Mobley situate her as both a historical witness and a symbol of resistance, foregrounding the emotional and political labor of Black motherhood.
The work is a thank you letter where Clark resists historical erasure, instead creating space for remembrance and reflection. By weaving Mamie Till-Mobley’s legacy into her broader practice, Clark emphasizes the persistence of grief, resilience, and collective memory, inviting viewers to confront the enduring impact of racial injustice while acknowledging the individuals who transformed personal loss into public action.Artwork Details
Medium
Indigo linen, marker, acrylic, Corten steel rod, hand forged nailsDimensions
Height
151.25 cmWidth
59.06 cm