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Arts·Q with Tom Power

June Clark's exhibit Unrequited Love explores her complicated relationship with the American flag

The American-born, Toronto-based artist talks to Q's Tom Power about her striking exhibit Unrequited Love — a collection of nine pieces, made over a period of decades, that incorporate the Stars and Stripes.

The American-born, Toronto-based artist talks to Q's Tom Power about her work

CBC Arts ·
Head shot of June Clark wearing headphones, sitting in front of a studio microphone.
June Clark in the Q studio in Toronto. (Vivian Rashotte/CBC)
Q21:38June Clark: Unrequited Love, her relationship with the American flag, and the artistic appeal of rust

In the late '60s, the visual artist June Clark fled the United States to Canada so her husband could escape the Vietnam draft. She wasn't an artist when she settled in Toronto, but that huge change in her life kind of put her on the path to art.

Since then, Clark has used her work to reflect on her relationship with her homeland and what she left behind. The Art Gallery of Ontario and Toronto's Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery are now reshowing her striking exhibit Unrequited Love this year. It's a collection of nine pieces, made over a period of decades, that incorporate the Stars and Stripes.

Clark sits down with Q's Tom Power to talk about her work and her path to becoming an artist.

A rusted American flag on a white wall.
June Clark, Dirge, 2003. Oxidized metal on canvas, Overall: 94 × 160 × 1.8 cm. Art Gallery of Ontario. Purchase, with funds by exchange, and funds from Joyce and Fred Zemans, 2021. © June Clark, courtesy of the artist and Daniel Faria Gallery. (LF Documentation)
Scraps of fabric with photos on them hang on a brown wall illuminated by string lights.
June Clark Harlem Quilt, 1997 (detail). Fabric, photo transfers, light. Image courtesy of the artist and Daniel Faria Gallery. (Silvia Ros)

The full interview with June Clark is available on our podcast, Q with Tom Power. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Interview with June Clark produced by Ben Edwards.