Rachel Shaw Ashton

Paper cutter

©Innes Hywel Evans

Conveying emotions with a scalpel

Rachel's work evokes emotion, memory and nature
Patience, concentration, tenacity and belief are essential
The titles of her works are reading clues

A trained illustrator and fine artist, Rachel Shaw Ashton discovered the delicate craft of paper cutting through experimentation. “I have always experimented with different mediums and when I first tried paper cutting it was incorporated as part of the large drawings I was making. Eventually, I became more interested in the images created with the paper itself and stopped using pencil drawings alongside.” Liking the idea that each tiny individual paper cutting will be slightly different even though it may look identical to hundreds of others, she hand cuts all the elements with a scalpel rather than using a laser. For Rachel, the purpose of paper cutting is to create beautiful yet thoughtful pieces that have meaning.

Interview

©Innes Hywel Evans

©Innes Hywel Evans

How would you define what you do?: I am a paper artist – I wait for inspiration to hit me and then try to capture the memory of that vision in paper. My skills are mostly related to patience and the very long hours of concentration that it takes to make very intricate and complicated representations of objects.
What do people not normally know about paper cutting?: People may not realise that most intricate paper cutting works are made with lasers which, for me, removes the character and soul of an artwork. Moreover, a good deal of research and studying has to be developed because a mistake cannot be repaired.
What are your specialisations?: At the moment, I am obsessed with plants and nature, but not long ago it was the human form and the way a figure can convey mood and memory. My present works titled Posidonia Seagrass and Remember Now are a reference to the present fragility of all things.
How are human emotions central to your work?: All good artwork capitalises on emotions so it is very much the centre of my work – it is why people are interested, why they can relate and connect. Whether I am creating figures, stories or still-lives of plants, there is always a basis of emotion rooted in the subject.

Rachel Shaw Ashton is an expert artisan: she began her career in 2010