Editions Ltd: On the Wing – Ruth Thomas
Venue: Editions Ltd
Date(s): 4.4.19 - 11.5.19
Time(s): All Day
On the Wing –
Ruth Thomas
Private view -Thursday 4th April 4.00-7.00pm
– until 11th May
This exhibition is Ruth’s fifth at Editions but it’s been a long six years since we last showed her work and we are excited to see this new body of pieces with its winged theme. Ruth Thomas makes hand-made original prints, incorporating direct impressions from natural objects.
“I have been using natural materials such as feathers, grass and seeds in my prints for many years. Taking impressions from them is one way of engaging with the natural world and the landscape around me.
I live and work in the Vale of Clwyd in North Wales. My studio looks out over an open landscape of fields, woods and the Clwydian hills. A large flock of rooks is present year round and in winter these are joined by migrant gulls; in summer, swallows fly over the field outside the window.
My latest work is inspired by these birds and the feathers I find while out walking. I start by cutting a stencil of the birds, then combine the stencil with individually inked feathers and print onto Maruishi, which is a fine translucent Japanese paper.
Each piece is made up of five or six layers so the resulting prints need to be carefully registered in order to make the final image.
I enjoy the interplay between the drawn image of the birds and the direct impression of the feathers. Both bird and feather convey a sense of weightlessness and freedom.”
In other pieces in the exhibition Ruth explores the abstract qualities of handwriting and the different forms a message can take.
Ruth is a member of the Royal Cambrian Academy