Clyde is a landscape artist based in Glasgow. Since graduating from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design in 2023 with a First Class Honours, he has worked in education in Orkney, and community initiatives in Dundee. His work captures a social contemporary relationship between the people and the land of Scotland, both rural and urban. His projects explore a necessity for public spaces through drawings, performances, and events. Having grown up in rural North-East Scotland, he draws mixed comparisons between city, rural and remote settings – and the core principle to his practice is creating a genuine engagement with publics. By designing works such as drawings for the sides of buildings, artworks to be viewed on pavements, or works to be participated in or watched in the street – there is an intentional and hospitable inclusivity to what he does, creating a shared public exploration of ideas and conceptuality.

Thanks for being with us Clyde! Tell us how your art practice has changed.
My practice has evolved to be more and more public, and ironically, I have evolved to care less and less of what people think.

How do you overcome creative blocks?
I must keep moving: running, walking, playing, talking, fixing, moving, thinking.

What do you do to keep motivated and interested in your work?
I like to try and talk about my work in a typically ‘non-art’ environment – at work, on the bus, etc. Fresh eyes, a bit of mutual confusion, and friendly challenge can be invaluable. The more questions someone needs to ask, the better.

Can you walk us through your creative process?
My process usually comes through doing something else. Overhearing something, spotting something whilst on the move. And I need to act on ideas almost immediately. I try not to dwell too much on the media, the form, the place. I think it’s important to shake something, keep in touch with the humour, the sadness or the beauty I saw in it originally, and try and get something simple and good out of it asap. Things always evolve, but that initial energy is precious and does disappear quickly, often making way for something else.

How do you know when a piece is complete?
Sadly, usually when someone else says it is. To that there’s an opportunity to either agree or disagree, and a decision is often made from that. It can be good to be pushed to decisions.

What advice would you give to artists just starting out?
Stay healthy and happy, enjoy, talk, turn up, do, believe, be silly, be serious.

Find out more about Clyde and his work on his website. Our Winter Open Call exhibition features an incredible collection of works by twenty-six artists who have each considered the season and explored the interplay of light and shadow, warmth and cold, presence and absence, through a wide range of mediums and styles. Chiaroscuro runs at Six Foot Gallery until Thursday 9th January 2025.