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Michèle Pearson Clarke

Biography

Michèle Pearson Clarke is a Trinidad-born Canadian artist, writer, and educator based in Toronto. Her multidisciplinary practice spans photography, film, video, and installation, examining Black and queer experiences through questions of grief, longing, intimacy, masculinity, vulnerability, and diaspora. She is an Assistant Professor in the School of Image Arts at Toronto Metropolitan University, where her areas of expertise include photography, Black representation, and LGBTQ+ representation.


Clarke's early documentary work includes Black Men and Me (2006), an experimental film exploring her relationship to Black men from the perspective of a Trinidadian queer woman. Her later projects continue to examine relationships, memory, grief, and queer identity. She holds a BA (Honours) in Psychology from Queen's University, an MSW from the University of Toronto, and an MFA in Documentary Media from Toronto Metropolitan University, awarded in 2015.


In Parade of Champions (2015), Clarke explores the grief experiences of three Black queer people following the deaths of their mothers. A Welcome Weight on My Body (2018) examines Black visuality through photography, texture, sound, listening, touching, and feeling. In 2021, Clarke curated We Buy Gold, an exhibition of contemporary Canadian LGBTQ2S+ photography. Her four-channel 4K video installation Quantum Choir (2022) explores queer female masculinity, vulnerability, gender variation, queer kinship, and intimacy.


BQW Impact

Clarke's work contributes to Black queer cultural representation by documenting experiences of grief, intimacy, vulnerability, masculinity, and belonging that are often underrepresented in visual culture. Her practice centers Black queer lives while connecting personal experience to broader questions of diaspora, community, memory, and loss.


Her work as an artist, writer, educator, and curator also expands the spaces available for Black queer perspectives within Canadian art institutions. Through exhibitions, teaching, writing, and curatorial projects, Clarke contributes to the visibility and documentation of Black queer histories and contemporary experiences.


Notable Works

  • Black Men and Me (2006)

    Experimental documentary exploring Clarke's relationship to Black men from the perspective of a Trinidadian queer woman.

  • It's Good to Be Needed (2013)

    Photographic portrait series examining relationships and intimacy.

  • Parade of Champions (2015)

    Three-channel video installation exploring the grief experiences of three Black queer people following the deaths of their mothers.

  • A Welcome Weight on My Body (2018)

    Photographic project exploring Black visuality through texture, sound, listening, touching, and feeling.

  • We Buy Gold (2021)

    Exhibition of contemporary Canadian LGBTQ2S+ photography curated by Clarke.

  • Quantum Choir (2022)

    Four-channel 4K video installation exploring queer female masculinity, vulnerability, gender variation, queer kinship, and intimacy.

Learn More
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