Clay Palmer holds an MFA in Painting from the University of Memphis and BFA in Studio Art as a University Scholar from the University of Tennessee at Martin. Clay has been a part of numerous regional, national, and international exhibitions. Clay recently received the Graduate Purchase Award for the 36th Annual Student Exhibition at the University of Memphis. Clay is one of Jehovah’s Witnesses and enjoys engaging with the community with his wife Olivia. They reside in Trenton, TN with their dogs Scarlett, Vanilla, Byron, and Zelda, and their cat Bukowski.
Palmer’s artistic practice approaches the layering of past and present narratives that include Biblical, socio-political, and personal content. His current work examines contemporary Southern life through interior genre scenes and addresses the anxiety of living in a period of history ravaged by ideological, economic, and socio-political friction. Images of poverty and wealth are in proximity to each other and illustrate how Southern middle-class families exist in a state of flux between these two economic poles. The turmoil and frustration of living within this context is expressed through the manipulation of figures and interiors in a manner that stems visually from Dutch merry company paintings, early American editorial cartoons, post-war Cubism, and underground comics.