Ed Clark (1926-2019) is best known as a pioneer of new artistic methods and modes of presentation. At the forefront of these innovations is his groundbreaking use of the push broom instead of a traditional artist's brush and his decision to work with the shaped canvas, becoming the first person in the United States to exhibit such a work in 1957 at the Brata Gallery. These two advances undoubtedly changed the course of abstraction on a grand scale, yet they tend to eclipse the other influences and progressions that exist within Clark's oeuvre. In a career that expanded over six decades, Clark consistently pursued other methods in addition to those already mentioned, which would allow him to capture the colors, events, and places that inspired him. 

Spatial Image XII  (1981) was made with dry pigment, a preferred material for Clark's works on paper. Again forgoing a conventional brush, Clark would work the dry pigment onto the paper using the palm of his hand, spreading it across the support with an energy that echoes his push broom paintings. The choice of material was inspired by the traditional sand paintings of the Pueblo tribe, which he first learned of during a stint in Taos, New Mexico. These artworks would be made by trickling small quantities of crushed, colored stone onto a background of clean, smoothed sand and were customarily made in conjunction with religious healing ceremonies. Paper as both a support and an independent material has likewise played an essential part in Clark's progression. Not only did he create works on paper during his travels for paper's cost-effectiveness and portability, but his first shaped canvases came about when he used paper collage on top of a rectangular canvas to make it appear more angular.