Each piece matters
- Jayne turned to woodcarving after an academic career
- She explores the sculptural quality of locally sourced wood
- She refuses the hierarchical distinction between art and craft
For Jayne Armstrong, 2010 was the year that changed her life for ever. After spending many years working as an academic at Falmouth University, England, which is celebrated for excellence in art, craft and design, and “thinking, talking and writing about art and craft”, Jayne decided that she wanted “to make, to create, to work with (her) hands”. Having trained with glass artists, ceramicists and wood turners, Jayne has spent a great deal of time discussing ideas and analysing objects with art and craft theorists and historians. Her work has evolved through all of these connections and she has a process of experimentation with references traditions within each medium. Using primarily fresh, locally sourced wood to explore its sculptural and aesthetic possibility, she makes contemporary, functional and sculptural objects.
INTERVIEW
There was always a desire. Working as an academic, I saw my research and writing as very much a creative process. My work with wood, glass and ceramics is an extension of my writing. It is all underpinned by an idea and enabled through a mastery of technique.
His creative approach to his chosen material inspired me immensely. Roy taught me how to use a woodturning lathe to create sculptural pieces. He also taught me that the lathe can be the starting point for something that is later carved, crafted and transformed by other means.
Most of my wood comes from the area where I live. A local tree surgeon supplies me with as much wood as I need and a local woodsman supplies me with fallen oak and chestnut. I have also created work that speaks directly to the history and culture of Brittany where I live.
It is a distinction that emerged in the western world in the 16th century and one that is not recognised in many cultures of the world. Items that might be considered ‘primitive’ or ‘craft’ in the west are valued as artistic-objects within the context in which they are made.
