Design and Art Australia Online

Furniture and lighting designer Karina Clarke, was born in Melbourne, in 1967. She completed a Bachelor of Art in Interior Design at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) in 1989. She continued her studies at the University of Tasmania, gaining a Master in Fine Arts in 1995. Initially interested in creating and designing interiors, Clarke soon found that furniture design allowed her more control over her creations, especially with regard to the detailed resolution of materials and form (pers. comm.). Clarke then went into the commercial market to gain professional experience, working first (1995-1997) as a project design manager for Chiswell Furniture. At the 1997 FIAA (The Furnishing Industry of Australia) Australian Furniture Exhibition, Clarke was recognised as winner of two awards, the Astley Leather Award for Product of the Year for upholstery in leather and the D & R Henderson Award for Timber Panel Product of the Year. The following year, 1998, she was appointed project development manager in furniture, lighting and homewares for the fashion and homewares enterprise, Country Road.

In 1999 Clarke was appointed a lecturer, later senior lecturer, in Design Studies at the College of Fine Arts (COFA), University of New South Wales, Sydney, where she co-ordinates Applied/Object Design throughout the curriculum, and over the years has taught design management, environments and fourth year Studio project.

Since 1999 Clarke has combined university teaching with her design practice. Her designs have appeared in numerous national and international exhibitions over the last decade. For example, Button Stool (2003) was first exhibited at 'Workshopped 03’ as a part of Sydney Design Week and the following year at the Tokyo Professional Chair Exhibition during the 2004 Tokyo Design Week. A polyurethane plastic seat fashioned in the shape of a button with a stainless steel frame, Button Stool is commercially produced. In 2007 Clarke’s work Borealis was shown in Sydney at the exhibition titled 'Integration: The Nature of Objects’. Boealis is an energy efficient lamp with an aluminum frame and brass tube with a black nickel finish.

As an object maker, Clarke exhibited It’s Not Just A Game (2010) for 'Workshopped 10’ in Chifley Plaza, Sydney as part of Sydney Design Week. This sculpture references the game of skittles as it contains eight white ceramic skittles and a ninth gold plated one, plus a walnut timber ball. The artist’s statement expressed a desire to “provoke a dialogue about the current trajectory the world is facing in regards to consumption, sustainability and climate change” (Clarke 2010).

A major aspect of Clarke’s work with exhibitions is as a curator. Some of her curated and co-curated exhibitions include 'Reframe’ (2006) held at the Ivan Dougherty Gallery in Sydney, 'Connected’ (2007) held at the International Conference on Design Education in Sydney, and 'Splinter Workshop’ in 2009. Splinter is a furniture co-operative that has been in operation for over ten years. The exhibition included its past and present members and was held at the Tin Sheds Gallery, University of Sydney, Sydney.

Clarke has won awards for her designs and to further research in design. In 1994 she won a scholarship for the Rosamond McCulloch Studio in the Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris. In 2000 Clarke was awarded a University of New South Wales College of Fine Arts Research Grant and in 2003 a Planex Furniture Industry Research Grant. With her colleague Katherine Moline she investigated ways in which exhibitions serve as an interface between practice and research; together they presented the findings to the Australian Council of University Art and Design Schools (ACUADS).

Writers:

Kimberly Leonard
Catherine De Lorenzo

Date written:

2010

Last updated:

2010