Born in London and became a prominent British artist. She is known mostly for her paintings, though she also made prints and created assemblages of collected objects.
She was awarded the Jerwood Prize for painting in 1999, and received a retrospective exhibition at Tate Britain in 2009.
Clough's work enjoyed increasing recognition from the 1970s onwards, with exhibitions at the Serpentine Gallery in 1976, followed by shows at the Warwick Arts Trust, the Camden Arts Centre and Kettle's Yard. From 1988 Clough was represented by Annely Juda Fine Art.
Her work is widely collected and in many museums and prominent collections including The Tate Gallery.