RAYVENN SHALEIGHA D’CLARK

Rayvenn Shaleigha D'Clark, a digital sculptor based in London, has gained international recognition with her works exhibited alongside renowned artists such as Tracey Emin, Ai Wei Wei, Joseph Beuys, and Banksy. Her art has been praised and acquired by international private collectors, and she has showcased her work in prestigious institutions like Carl Freedman Gallery, Gucci Circolo Shoreditch, Mall Galleries, Royal College of Arts, Victoria & Albert Museum, and Saatchi Gallery. D'Clark has also made appearances on art shows like "Next Big Thing" (Jan 2021), Arte TV (Jan 2023), and BBC Live, discussing the importance of supporting emerging creative talent in the UK and addressing sector inequalities with sustainable business models.

Rayvenn Shaleigha D’Clark grew up surrounded by curious and creative family members which led her to extend her interest in visual arts by pursuing a fine art higher education at Central Saint Martins and Chelsea School of Art. During these formative years, D’Clark kept exploring techniques and forms, juggling different mediums such as painting, drawing, and photography. Her investigations of various visual languages drove her to pursue the possibilities of hyperrealism. Fascinated by the human form—and especially the human face—D’Clark decided to transform traditional portraiture into mask-like tridimensional sculptures. In order to achieve this unique life-like bodily realism D’Clark ended up creating her own process. Combining live casting and 3D printing, she produced detailed human-like sculptures—sometimes including human hair or made-for-human elements such as nail varnish. 

Her first notable work, Untitled (2016) was the result of a 3-month long methodological pursuit involving prepping her sitter’s skin, using latex silicon to make a mold, and then recasting back to silicone. Silicone pigments and Sleek make-up would enable her to render in the most accurate way skin colour: reproducing, in all its complexity, shades, and tones. Inspired by a close circle of peers, friends, and family members, and motivated by the idea of portraying kinship, D’Clark first worked with sitters she knew well—which led her to describe her practice as “sculpting with eyes closed and mind open”. Acquainted with the sitters’ features, she creates a collection of true-to-nature silicon sculptures that enable her to play with the power of representation and perceptions of both race and gender. 

Despite challenges, Rayvenn has garnered substantial audiences in the UK and US, as well as press and social media attention. She addresses contentious topics like slavery, inequality, and equity through anti-violence motifs, challenging stereotypes in today's visual culture, maintaining a strong global and UK audience, particularly in cities embracing monuments of influential activists of colour.

Aware that monuments and public sculptures are never of women of colour, D’Clark wants to celebrate her anonymous peers: commemorating hidden figures in the public realm. Influenced by body politics theory, she proposes observing the uniqueness of individuals, going beyond the mass considerations of communities. D’Clark’s practice is also playful and her sculptures oscillate between uncanny realness to other-worldly colourful visages. Using scale and size, her work is a reflection of the uniqueness of our multiple selves. D’Clark’s uses intersectional thinking to craft a complex and contemporary representation of womxnhood.  Drawing on her personal experience as a minority ethnic artist facing challenges in securing funding, she uses her voice to empower communities of colour through visual storytelling, addressing painful histories in the UK. Rayvenn sees her role as an honour, celebrating anonymous peers and commemorating hidden figures in the public realm. Her innovative oeuvre bridges the gap between tradition and technology, blending digital and traditional artisanal techniques to create sculptures depicting complex representations of black anatomy.

In March 2024, D'Clark unveiled her largest project to date - a multi-million-pound permanent public project in the United States, at a historic site in Montgomery, Alabama.

Her three bronze sculptures, titled ‘Black Renaissance’ — a new and original work at the Freedom Monument Sculpture Park in 2024 — is noteworthy not only for the size of the commission award but for being awarded to an early-career black female artist under the age of 30. It holds the potential to reshape narratives around the topic of slavery, with over two million visitors anticipated at the site. The Freedom Monument Sculpture Park has already gained recognition as one of the top travel destinations for 2024, featured in the New York Times, Architectural Digest, The Art Newspaper, and CNN.

Despite opening her studio just 10 months ago, D'Clark has secured nearly two million pounds in funding for permanent sculptures in the US and UK.

Research highlights a gender and racial/ethnic participation gap in contemporary sculpture, particularly among black females. Only 1% of works in major art museums and galleries by Black artists, and 2% of named public statues in Britain, commemorate individuals from ethnically diverse backgrounds, revealing a "bronze ceiling" limiting women's historical accomplishments.