Woodcuts 2019- 2020
I’m drawn to the low- tech, pared down nature of woodcut that foregrounds a visual dialogue between wood, paper and cut. I improvise with marks, textures and motifs taken from different sources, including observational drawing, photographs and folk art, especially weaving to:
surprise me;
create joyful images that express balance and positivity;
use colour to create spatial relationships;
explore pattern and rhythm as a source of emotional response.
Using multiple blocks of wood means that I can layer colours and textures, and improvise within a vocabulary of forms. This way of working results in many of the prints being 'one off's' or mono-prints. Sometimes I use hand- made Lokta paper, the irregularities in the surface adding to the final look of the print. This acid free paper is made without electricity or tree destruction from the bark of the Lokta bush in the Himalayan region of Nepal. Other prints draw on Japanese woodcut techniques and are printed with watercolour on Japanese paper.
