Judith Chestnutt

Papermaker

I trained as a teacher. Further qualifications include a distinction in City and Guilds Embroidery and a post-graduate diploma in art education (textiles). The recycling ethic is very much part of my philosophy. What others discard, I save. I sort, shred, tear, and soak junk mail, used coloured envelopes, old yellow pages etc. I also collect and prepare natural fibres such as nettles, reeds, straw, flax cottons etc. These fibres and pulps are my media.

The 'Junk Mail' series, portrays, in largely abstract form, the Suffolk sea and landscapes. On closer inspection evidence of the original papers and printing can be seen. Lettering is embedded in the images. Colour comes from the original fibres. I add no extra pigments.

In 'Paperworks', I use pressed, cast, painted, office-waste fibres. The works are many layered. Embedded in the detailed, textured surfaces, are extra fibres, found materials, shadows of selected texts, relevant to each piece of work, be that a child's dress drying in the wind, a bird on the wing, or a fish swimming against the tide.

Annesley House
Boot Street
Great Bealings
Suffolk
IP13 6PQ

01473 735343

www.chestnuttstudios.co.uk
Chestnutt Cottage and Southwold Beach Hut