Celia Jackson  UK
Limited Spaces
As an artist, I engage with various photographic technologies to explore a range of concerns, from the conventions of family life to the landscape. The resultant images are juxtaposed with text – my own and that of others – in the form of collages, or simply as titles to accompany images. I am interested in the ‘aesthetics of heterogeneity’ (described by Lawrence Alloway, with reference to Robert Rauschenberg), in which fragments are drawn from an array of sources to produce a unified and coherent whole. The material qualities of the finished work are of prime importance, so I use layers of paper, images and texts and incorporate fabric, photocopies and silkscreen prints of 3D objects, and so forth. This preoccupation with the tactile and organic has always been central to my creative practice.

Bookmarks IV has provided an opportunity to explore the notion of materiality on a small scale, in the production of objects which, by their very nature, are intended to be handled. The use of several different kinds of paper, together with raffia ties, has fulfilled my desire to incorporate elements which foreground the organic and material qualities of the work. Meanwhile, the production of both inkjet and silkscreen images and texts draws attention to a number of different modes and processes of representation, all involving the photographic in some way but mediated by further treatment in the print studio at the hand of the artist.

The images and texts appearing on the bookmarks address two related concerns: the need to conserve the diminishing countryside (‘limited spaces’) and my own gratitude and wonder at the beauty of the natural world. I was born and raised in the country (Gloucestershire and upstate New York); now, my two children and I are members of the Gwent Wildlife Trust and take part in a range of activities designed to raise awareness of ecological issues, in particular the protection of indigenous wildflowers, insects and animals in danger of disappearing forever from the British countryside. The scriptural texts express, in the most lyrical language, the often ephemeral beauty of the landscape and the joy with which it provides us.

Finally, my grateful thanks go to Martyn Webb, University of Wales, Newport, for sharing so generously his printmaking expertise, support and encouragement.

email : celia.jackson@newport.ac.uk

back