http://www.jenwright-art.com en-gb jenwright-art.com 2008-5-11T00:00:00Z jenwright-art.com http://www.jenwright-art.com/page13.htm#24106 With the help of my partner Nigel I have been working on a series of abstract films based on movement of different fluids around structures I made from plastic film and tissue. The structures are based on drawings I made of spine deformaties and sketches from researching surgeons drawings made in the 1930s to the 1960s. Nigel has been struggling to convert files that will play on this site so hopefully you will be able to watch a film successfully. The sound is based on ambient sound caught at the time of filming and processed to match some of the movement and flow of the image. I want to get away from the literal view of the bodies interior we have all seen views of going down an oesophagus and capture the exploration of an interior which is unknown and yet has an organic feeling. the element of movement has always been important in my work so the tiny twitches and pulses are repeated but not always in the usual rhthymic mode of a healthy body. 2008-5-11T00:00:00Z http://www.jenwright-art.com/page13.htm#21950 One of the great things at Camberwell is the print making department not being a printmaker has not held me back because I am not sure what I can do I have a go anyway if I make a mess I have the perfect excuse I am not really a print maker I have just snuck in although I dont know how long I will be able to keep that excuse up Anyway I have been fascinated by overlapping paper to form layers and have got some wonderful Japanese tissue paper called Gampi which has the texture and feel of a very thin layer of skin. I am at present learning to manipulate the fine tissue as its delicate structure tends to want to adhere to itself really easily. I have also found the joy of embossing making layers of different papers over my deformed plates which have been dissolved and distorted by many immersions in acid. The images are of the embossed prints it is difficult to see on the screen the delicate details and the embossing but there is a good idea of the shape of the plates I have used. 2008-3-27T00:00:00Z http://www.jenwright-art.com/page13.htm#20359 For the last in the series of 4 MA students show on Identity I decided to get right away from the prints which are still a huge part of my present practice and show a series of mixed media experiments still based on Mr Jeffs captured in glass jars. What more appropriate setting for dry specimens constructed from clay copper and manganese as an homage to Mr. Jeffs who was disinterred from the grave and is now on show in the Crystal Gallery to be placed in jars in a case and viewed by passers by at Wilson Road Camberwell. It was quite a surprise for the tutors and students not to see some prints as they know my present obsession in the print room. However they found the work challenging and interesting and I have had many interesting discussions based on the research work I have been doing at the Royal London Hospital and Barts archives and the morality of having anatomised bodies on show to the public. I look forward to more research the drawings from the 40s and 50s ... 2008-2-23T00:00:00Z http://www.jenwright-art.com/page13.htm#19746 The Camberwell MA Student Shows at the Wilson Road site are in full swing I had a framed etchng in the show on Abstraction on the 28th January the first show in a seres of four. I have entered a series of mixed media objects in glass jars for the last show on Identity which will be held from Feb 18th 22nd. I have just finished the work based again on Mr Jeffs. The more I investigate him the more attachment I feel. Being buried only to be exhumed anatomised and sold on to be used as an object of education and entertainment is quite troubling. I cant quite keep the thought is this what Mr Jeffs have wanted out of my mind But I am still using exploiting his body in my work. He certainly has gained some measure of fame even within the confines of the Camberwell MA group as I used prints in a seminar last week with members from different MA groups and had to discuss my source materials. Images from the abstraction show 2008-2-9T00:00:00Z http://www.jenwright-art.com/page13.htm#19208 Each student brought in a sketch book and drawing equipment materials to reflect their drawing practise. A double page spread was allocated for each student to illustrate each drawng session timed for 15 mins. The drawings used collaged textile quotations as a response to objects brought into the session abstract forms work including text and image. We attempted to try and be as rule free as possible which allowed students to draw on others work encroach on pages already or about to be used. We also did not pass books around in a systematic fashion which helped towards the end of the session as we had to find books we had not already used. The session began at 11 am and ended at 4pm with 2 breaks totalling an hour. Towards the end of the time fatigue certainly set in but not so much that there was a discussion about what to do as a group for our next drawing project. It was an interesting experience to draw for such an extended period over such a long time with a group of people. T... 2008-1-27T00:00:00Z http://www.jenwright-art.com/page13.htm#18863 Having discovered the joys of etching I am busy finding ways to develop work which reflects how structures within the human body are layered particularly with reference to the abnormal structure of Mr Jeffs at the Hunterian Museum. The way that some of the muscles on the spine arms and shoulders have become ossified some looking very much like real bone that has melted and dripped onto different parts of the body structure and other ossifications look like clinker or lumps of ash that are partly crystalline is intriguing and I am very much indebted to the expert knowledge of the surgeons who have discussed Mr Jefffs case with me. With the help of Paul Atkins at Camberwell print making department I have begun to try out methods of adding layers of tone using the spit bite method. Sometimes I have started a plate with the spit bite process of painting on acid and then drawing into the plate with etching at other times using the spit bte on top of the drawn etchings. The images show e... 2008-1-19T00:00:00Z http://www.jenwright-art.com/page13.htm#18352 I am continuing to develop paper structures based on drawings of skeletons the spine and rib cage to be still quite a focus. I have begun to include elements of sewing as a means of extendng the paper I am working on also mixing acrylic paint and glue. The acrylic I added first to define some of the shapes of the bone but the painted area has sometimes grown to indicate areas that have more depth. Drawing over the acrylic with glue has an element of growth and chance as it spreads between sections and into spaces rather like strings of tissue or muscle linking bone. In some areas I painted over the wet and drying glue so that speckles appear rather like the colour and texture of some of the ossified muscle seen on Mr Jeffs shoulders and upper arms. 2008-1-8T00:00:00Z http://www.jenwright-art.com/page13.htm#17974 Using porcelain paper I am experimenting constructing shapes based on previous drawings of Mr Jeffs spinal column. I have been overdrawing with Manganese scratching into the surface and allowing the manganese mixed with water to flow into the ceramic. I have been struck by how much more interesting the shapes are when they are stacked like layers of skin and body tissues and will continue to experiment threading the structures together. I have been intersted in the work of Marco Maggi and how he uses stacked paper to occupy a space the work I have seen occupies the floor space it might be interesting to see if this work hangs. Images are of work in progress 2007-12-31T00:00:00Z http://www.jenwright-art.com/page13.htm#17762 During a very productive visit to the Hunterian Museum in London I was introduced to this book by a very knowledgeable retired surgeon unfortunately I did not get his name while I was once again drawing Mr Jeffs or rather his skeleton showing symptoms of myositis ossificans where the muscles become ossified and the bones fuse and seem to melt into one another. Having purchased A Surgical Artist at War I have been doing further research on Goya and continue to look at how there is a cross over between art and medicine. A Surgical Artist at War The paintings and sketches of Sir Charles Bell 1809 1815 M K H Crumplin and P Starling Published by RCS Edinburgh 2005 This book reproduces images and text of the work of Sir Charles Bell 1774 1842 Scottish surgeon and artist. The images are of dead and wounded soldiers from the Spanish Peninsular War 1807 1814 and the Battle of Waterloo 1815. The images include notes describing wounds and possible tr... 2007-12-23T00:00:00Z http://www.jenwright-art.com/page13.htm#17568 Work continues with further experimentation using different materials. Etching has helped me experiment with line ad using overlapping marks to indicate areas of depth. I have begun using small plates making drawings based on the skeleton of a Mr Jeffs who can be seen in the crystal gallery of the Hunterian Museum in London. He is particualry interesting as many of his muscle structures have become ossified due to disease. The Ossification has caused many areas of bone fusion and overgrowth which in some parts give the impression that the bones have somehow begun to melt onto one another and odd shaped spurs form especially on some of the longer bones. This print was included in the MA printmakers exhibition at the Wilson Road Gallery Camberwell. 2007-12-16T00:00:00Z http://www.jenwright-art.com/page13.htm#17433 Combining elements of anatomical drawing with the energy and spacial awareness of Capoeiristas has been the starting point for much of my practical work and research. My preliminary research proposal is to investigate how drawing is used as a tool by surgeons together with producing work that uses layers of different media and materials. Being at Camberwell has given me the opportunity to use the excellent print making facilities to make a series of etchings based on anatomical drawings made at the Hunterian Museum London. 2007-12-12T00:00:00Z