Jane Chetwynd

Marks left by the passing of time fascinate me. The patina left by human or elemental intervention, often found in a partially decayed or eroded objects inform the way I make work. Trying to capture the essence of something that is broken, used, redundant, yet complete in its portrayal of time and place is central to my practice. The immediate, close landscape at our feet interest me, here you can find remnants of other lives and other times; these images, objects, materials and matter spark my curiosity. By working with these fragments a new life within them is revealed, as reinvented objects, images, experiments and sometimes collections. My work explores the delicate balance between past and present as well as that of life evolving.

'Buried in the Woods’ stems from a bottle dump I excavated and continue to excavate. The ravages of time on the discovered ephemera, is further enhanced through the firing of glass and other materials that have been exposed to the earth, over many years. This project continues, with new objects, exploratory firings, constructions and drawings.

‘Mermaids Purse’ responds to the shore line and the discovery of intriguing egg cases. The work considers notions of similarity and difference in these related objects. This is explored and celebrated through the individual treatment of each new hand made egg case. Their original delicacy is acknowledged through the materials and processes used in replicating the originals. The resulting objects, ask to be handled and gazed upon. Together the purses suggest a family off, a sense of belonging together and the evolution of species.

‘Somewhere between Sicily and Scillies’, a more recent body of work responds to and combines the close landscape of both places. Bright colours, rich surfaces, buried history, found objects, and the evidence of unseen, perhaps forgotten human interaction, (concerning the domestic and cultural rather than industrial). This is reinforced by the processes and materials used to create rich collaged stitched paintings. Stitch is used as a metaphor for time passing, holding history together a sort of domestic glue. Inclusions such as corroded objects and blistered ceramic shards are attached, not to adorn but to remember the past lively hoods that made these islands.