“I’ve embraced my skin, my melanin, my destiny.”
– Clifford Ward
At Grounds for Sculpture, Clifford Ward’s I’ll Make Me a World gathers a profound œuvre spanning 12 years, an homage to his culture, ancestors, and the creative journey he has taken. “I’m trying to compensate for what I don’t know about myself,” he explains—and that search for understanding has resulted in a stunning collection of work that breaks narrative boundaries.
State of the Arts producer Samuel Vladimirsky’s peek into Clifford Ward’s process brings us right into his studio, where he uses his face as a medium for his storytelling—quite literally, as we find him casting a mold of his own face. As Ward’s assistant, artist Margareta Warlick, peels the set plaster off his skin, his sense of inspiration is palpable. In his own body and his work, Ward sees himself as a vessel, sharing perspectives from his culture and history. “I really think I’m being controlled by my ancestors,” he says. “They seem to almost creep into my work without me knowing.”
“Art allows you to express things that you might not want to say otherwise.”
– Clifford Ward
His sculptures, odes to his identity as a Black artist, are the fruits of a deep relationship with history that began as an adult. While growing up, Ward tells us, “I hate to say it, but I was almost ashamed, like I didn’t want to be who I was.”
“It wasn’t until I read the autobiography of Malcom X that changed my entire way of looking at who I am … It was at that point that I started to reeducate myself.” He notes that when he began reading works by Black writers, it “… was the act of putting these pieces together that inspired my world.”
This puzzling together of perspectives is visible in his work, from his literal casting process to the rhythmic repetition of his sculptures in museum spaces, as seen in his installation of Animism, below. His literary inspiration is also found in the apt exhibition title, a reference to the work of poet and social reformer James Weldon Johnson.
Clifford Ward’s Animism, 2013-2024, in I’ll Make Me a World: prologue at Artworks Trenton
“My mission has always been to realize a pathway for marginalized artists to come into museums.”
– Noah Smalls, Guest Curator at Grounds for Sculpture
I’ll Make Me a World is a unique collaboration between two New Jersey art spaces. Artworks in Trenton hosted a “prologue” show, followed by a truly expansive exhibition of Ward’s work curated by Noah Smalls at Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, on view until Jan. 11, 2026.
Clifford Ward has spent over a decade making his world, and his invitation for us all to come in and explore is a precious opportunity.
