BIO

Nova Clite is a self-taught mixed-media artist who integrates found, crafted, and recycled objects to create works that both intrigue and challenge. A life-long creative, Ms. Clite recently retired from a three-decades long career in environmental science, with a focus on pollution cleanup. Her scientific knowledge and deep experience inform her artwork with perspective on how the world works and the challenges before us. Yet playful imagination is the primary driver of her compositions in found materials, beads, clay, and paint. Gravity and light play significant roles in her work, including mobiles and free-hanging balance pieces. While still building her portfolio, Ms. Clite has won several awards for her work and continues to stretch both creatively and technically into her art practice. She lives and creates in Ventura, CA.

 

Artist's Statement

 

The beauty of having lived now for more than six decades is that I can look back at this lumpy twisting ribbon of my life and know with certainty that I’ve survived thus far. Not just survived but thrived because of my determination to make my own way, do as little harm as possible, be good to others, and challenge the powers-that-be for being both harmful to the environment and its citizens. I care about truth, justice, and “reality” as in what the scientific method teaches us about the planet we live on and the universe that holds it. That’s what informs and inspires my art: truth, justice, and beautiful complex reality.

From here, I look around and up bubbles ideas and images, sometimes words or song. I take these things and grab what’s handy and make something out of it as best as I can. An idea turns into a beaded artwork, a wire mobile, a painting, a photograph, or a poem – whatever makes its way forth. I try to be a safe harbor for inspiration, a place where my creativity can get a bit of a foothold and make something of itself. I am here now to be a good hand at expression, a node for positive influence. With humility for all I do not know, and for all I want to know, here I am.

 

Nova Clite

Resume

Born: 1953; Long Beach, CA

Education: University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee B.S. and M.S. Geosciences 1988/1992

Work Experience: Community organizer and advocate working on women’s, poverty, and community health issues in Milwaukee, WI (1972 – 1988); Professional geologist specializing in hydrogeology with a focus on industrial chemical cleanups across the United States. 1991 – 2019.

Art Experience (since 2014):

Resident Artist, Bell Arts Factory, Ventura, CA (2020 – present). Established in 2006, Bell Arts Factory is a non-profit, community-based organization that utilizes the arts as a means to deliver messages and encourage acts of greater good within our community.

Resident Artist, H Gallery and Studios, Ventura, CA. (2016 – 2020). Featuring a main art gallery space surrounded by 20 work studios, HG&S is a multi-faceted enterprise supporting working artists and creatives since 2014. Frequent gallery openings and open studio events attract a large and diverse following.

Resident Artist, Studio 1317, Ventura CA. (2014 – 2015). Operated by renowned sculptor and ceramicist Lynn Creighton, Studio 1317 supported both established and emerging artists. Monthly open studio events featured works by resident artists, music, and poetry.

Shows and Awards

Ventura County Arts Council (VCAC). Ms. Clite has shown her work at multiple competitive VCAC shows displayed at the Atrium Gallery in the Ventura County Government Center. Typically, 60 – 75 entries are accepted per show, with professional curation and judging.

  • Oct. 2019. Third Place – “Stepping Off” found objects sculpture.
  • June 2019. Honorable Mention – “Meditation” bead hanging
  • April 2019. Honorable Mention – “Fire in the Canyon” driftwood and glass bead hanging.
  • May 2018 .Third Place – “Deep Dive”. Driftwood and bone wall sculpture.

Artavita 2020, international themed contest Covid Dreams (online). Submitted “Covid Juggler” which placed in top 100 finalists among 478 artists who took part with 862 works. “Covid Juggler” is a wall sculpture comprised of found and repurposed materials.

Vita Art Center (Ventura, CA). 2020. Participated as new/emerging artist in shows with the themes of “Love” and “Exquisite Corpse”.

Email

NovaClite.artist@gmail.com