JAYNE ARMSTRONG

Jayne Armstrong works primarily in fresh, green wood to explore the sculptural and aesthetic possibilities of a material that moves and changes shape as it dries. Her work plays with boundaries between sculpture and function, and challenges expectations of the material itself. The resulting forms are fluid, undulating and frequently monochromatic in tone.

Jayne’s academic background within cultural studies informs and underpins her approach to woodwork. Experimental and exploratory, her work draws from art history, design history and philosophy. She describes her work as a dialogue between material, concept, technology and technique. Each individual piece begins life on a woodturning lathe where it is often turned to no more than one or two millimetres before being left to dry naturally. Once dry, Jayne carves, bleaches, stains, burns, embellishes, paints, oils and waxes. Each piece is intentionally unique and the outcome of multiple processes.

Much of her wood is sourced locally, with some retrieved herself from her garden in Brittany, France, which is a central part of her practice. Jayne also relies on friends, neighbours, the local arboriculturist and the communal forest. Worked in this way, each piece of wood has a story rooted in time and place, yet located within a broader cultural and historical context.