Drawing With Scissors | An exhibition by Kathryn Holt.
Artist Kathryn Holt returns to the Trestle Gallery with prints of her popular botanical themed painted paper collages alongside new work inspired by the fragility of the natural environment.
HOW THE WORKS ARE MADE
The works displayed are original collages and high quality Giclee Prints of original works created using cut paper collage techniques.
The process begins by creating a palette of painted papers to work with. Using a technique borrowed from traditional bookbinding (for the production of decorative endpapers) I make a paste from cooked flour and water and add pigment to this paste. I use inks, acrylics, poster colours, watercolours, and even house paint samples to make a thick coloured paste.
The paste is brushed onto paper quickly using a decorating brush and then texture is created in the paste using anything from fingers to twigs, combs, and card – anything that will make a mark.
The papers are dried and ironed and are then ready to cut and create with. This process is fluid, spontaneous, intuitive and often rhythmical in the way I create marks in the paste.
This contrasts with the next stage, where I will start with a small sketch of a possible subject, followed by cutting, which though done freehand, without drawing onto the paste paper, is precise and controlled. The composition of the finished pieces is a process of experimentation, moving the cut elements around until the image finds a balance.
INSPIRATION
Plants and growing things have been a big part of my life since childhood, when I grew up in a house filled with plants, with cuttings always on the windowsill and seeds germinating in trays…my own house now is just the same…
A selection of Kathryn’s work is available to buy through the Trestle Exhibition Shop
Entry is free and the exhibition is open during our normal Arts Base hours, please click here for more information. For enquiries about the exhibition space at Trestle, please contact our Gallery Programmer Elaine Johnson at gallery@trestle.org.uk | 01727 850950