As we enter the final countdown to Christmas and the festive period, it was lovely to have a chance recently to talk to TSG member Jan Evans about her work for the DIS/rupt project and escape the melee of the shops for a while. The members of TSG are spread across the UK so it was good to spend some time with Jan and find out a little of what is behind her project, a subject that is very dear to her heart.
Q1. Which area of the DIS/rupt project are you investigating or exploring?
I have been looking at ecological and environmental issues concerning our hedgerows and their importance for our wildlife. Over the past 50 years many hedges have been removed and many more neglected or mismanaged. A good hedge is one that has a variety of tree species, is thick, dense and 1.5 m. tall or over. Hedges are important wildlife corridors and habitats for many mammals, birds and thousands of insects, but a worrying number of these are now at risk.
Q2. Can you tell us something about the piece you are working on for DIS/rupt?
I hope to show a comparison between luxuriant hedgerows with field margins and the gappy, sparse, neglected hedges with no wildlife. Birds such as the cirl bunting and yellowhammer are at risk due to hedgerow depletion also the dormouse, the hedgehog, and the brown hairstreak butterfly. Images of these will be hidden in the piece for visitors to discover.
Q3. What are the materials and processes that you are working with?
Printing onto calico, paper and fine cotton with the addition of chiffon and machine stitch (printing blocks based on drawings and sketches collected while researching the topic. Building up layers of leaf shapes such as hawthorn, blackthorn and hazel.
Q4. Are you able to give us an idea of the scale of your piece?
I expect the piece to be approximately 150cms x 60cms.
Q5. Is the finished piece to be free standing or wall mounted?
It will be wall mounted horizontally and I would like people to interact with the piece by lifting flaps or opening windows to see what is hiding inside the hedge.
Q6. What message do you hope the viewers of your work will take away from the exhibition?
I hope they will be more aware of the importance of our hedgerows in the countryside, how they support most of our woodland birds and provide food and breeding locations for many other creatures.
If anyone is interested in finding out more go to http://www.hedgelink.org.uk
Thank you, Jan, it is always interesting to hear about an artist’s work and the thinking that goes into the final piece. I look forward to seeing the finished work when the exhibition opens in Stroud at the end of April.
If you are interested to know more about the DIS/rupt project and the workshops that are running alongside the exhibition you will find them at this link TSG
There is an exciting programme of workshops planned to run concurrently with the DIS/rupt exhibition and all information about them and the TSG members who will be teaching can also be found on the group’s website at the above link. All bookings for the workshops are through
at this link SIT Select 2017
We will be publishing more interviews with members to ask about their work over the coming months and in the lead up to the exhibition but in the meantime we send our festive greetings to everyone – and see you in Stroud!
