The ‘Skull Paintings’ and ‘Studies for Portraits’ explore memento mori themes. The works are named after individuals or universal archetypes and stem from a period of grief in the artist’s life. In conversation with Doris Saatchi in the catalogue Don’t Forget the Lamb, Clarke explains:

‘After the death of my mother and someone else close to me […] I didn’t feel that I could authentically engage with optimistic colour for a while. As I worked on the skulls, colour began to show up bit by bit and with each work I put my foot back into the world a little deeper.’