Jane Hunter https://www.janehunter.art/about
“I make work which speaks intimately of our relationship with and experience in the natural world. Considering how humankind seeks control or stability, alongside connection, in the face of the landscape’s ostensibly wild and unpredictable nature.
Staining the canvas in an organic chaos of overlapping colour and shape, I look for ways to find comfort, assurance, or gentleness within this chaos. The confidence of a structure, a place of safety, remembering patterns and the shape of journeys.”
The process begins with me being outside in the landscape, mostly walking, sometimes swimming, or paddling a kayak. I spend time finding out about the geology and shapes of the land, notice the sounds and light, build relationships with people and place. All these shapes, colours, emotions, and experiences build an image in my mind, which I then translate to the canvas.
Using inks, fluid paints and water I pour and move colour around to stain the raw canvas, creating organic flowing shapes. My paintings are made up of many layers, each needing to dry overnight before the next can be laid down, which forces a slowness and thoughtfulness in the process, allowing time to consider the next move. It also means I work on many paintings at one time, so my studio is pretty busy. Expressive marks and pattern come next using a mix of materials and guided by the unpredictable, sometimes chaotic nature of the fluid layers. I mark lines of travel, sometimes bold and confident often more tentative and cautious, the movement of the breeze on water, the comfort of light and solid ground. Throughout this process I recall my time in the landscape, each fluid layer, colour, line or pattern a remembered experience.
The paintings I make would probably fall into the abstract expressionist genre, however, although they are abstract, when I look at them, I almost see a map. A record of wanderings, of a sunset, a conversation, of hopes and fears.”
Jane’s work has been shown in galleries across Scotland, including solo exhibits at The Watermill, Aberfeldy, Harbour Arts, Irvine, and The Tighnabruaich Gallery, and is held in private collections across the world. Jane has collaborated with several corporate clients and her work is held in the collections of the British Geological Survey, Raasay Distillery, Perle Hotels, North Ayrshire Council, Renfrewshire Council and KPMG Edinburgh.
Jane Hunter is a visual artist based in Paisley. She makes work which speaks intimately of our relationship with and experience in the natural world. Considering how humankind seeks control or stability, alongside connection, in the face of the landscape’s ostensibly wild and unpredictable nature.
Jane’s work has been shown in galleries across Scotland and is held in private collections across the world. Jane has collaborated with several corporate clients and her work is held in the collections of the British Geological Survey, Raasay Distillery, Perle Hotels, North Ayrshire Council, Renfrewshire Council and KPMG Edinburgh. “I have been working through a period of change and development in my practice for the last couple of years, considering the aspects that are fundamentally important to me and what I want to say with my work. In this time, I also began to work in a new medium, swapping textiles for paint, and have found in this change a far greater expressive freedom and space for storytelling. I look forward to the dedicated and focussed time my residency at Cove Park will allow, to further develop this significant shift in my work and experiment practically with new ideas.”