JO ARIS

The work is about the material and sensual world, places - both specific and landscape archetypes, colour and language. It investigates the relationship between non human nature, and human, domestic life.

Materials used include paper (sugar paper, newsprint, manilla etc.), plant material, silk, thread, wool, pearls, paint. They are typically fragile, often transparent, not waterproof, sometimes change when exposed to light: a broadly anti monumental stance.

Projects in development are [Pomegranate] fig, herb, spice (paintings) and square garden, crescent garden (writing).

[Pomegranate] fig, herb, spice comprises image, text, and image/text paintings. These all deal with edible and medicinal plants, but also investigate colour, language, and the interaction between image and text. The wider context for this work is concerns about land use and food production.

The text pieces include lists of plants according to colour; etymologies of English names; lists of species in a genus, their place of origin, uses in food and Chinese medicinal term for the part used; lists of different languages words for the same thing - names for mango, pomegranate, trees in the plum genus, herbs are arranged according to sound, and beginning with the languages nearest to where the plant is found in the wild.

Education

1996-97 MA European Fine Art, Winchester School of Art, Barcelona
1978-82 BA Honours in Fine Art, Leeds University


One Person Exhibitions

Selected Group Exhibitions

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