Artworks member Janet French has been invited to show her work in a solo exhibition at Clare Hall, Cambridge. The exhibition will include 30-35 of Janet’s unique contemporary landscape images screenprinted onto handmade paper she creates using natural leaves and fibres.

Janet French ‘Field Studies’
An exhibition of Contemporary Silkscreen Prints on Handmade Leaf Paper.
25 April – 5 June 2019
Clare Hall, Herschel Road, Cambridge.

‘Winter Sun II’
Screenprint on Handmade Beech leaf paper with gold leaf
61x80cm

The idea of making paper from leaves began when I started to question the relevance of the materials I was using to the landscape I was working in. Maybe locally sourced materials would reflect in my work something about that particular landscape that, say, a sheet of manufactured white paper or canvas could not. I began experimenting with natural pigments and inks and have slowly developed and adapted traditional paper making methods to create papers from the materials around me

The processes involved reflect my personal relationship with the environment which is not about standing back and admiring the view. It is about connecting with the landscape and understanding through process. It is about cultivating and harvesting and recycling and working with nature. The papermaking process similarly involves working outside harvesting and preparing, working in tune with the seasons and weather.

Each sheet of leaf paper I make is created with an image in mind which incorporates the characteristics of the leaves as an integral part of that image. The challenge has been to strike the right balance between leaf paper and image and not allow the image to dominate. The translucent nature of the paper allows me to print part of the image on the reverse side of the leaves. The image can then be seen in a more subtle way and the natural details of the leaves are enhanced by the underlying ink. I also embrace the natural characteristics of the different leaves by allowing the texture to break through the image. In this way I aim to create a balance between image and paper, man and environment.

End of the Day I
Screenprint on Handmade Beech leaf paper with gold leaf
64x61cm

Janet French
‘Field Studies’
25 April – 5 June 2019

An exhibition of Contemporary Silkscreen Prints on Handmade Leaf Paper.

Clare Hall, Herschel Road, Cambridge CB3 9AL.

www.clarehall.cam.ac.uk
www.janetfrench.co.uk