Josephine Cottrell 'Blue Hour, Sarawat Mountains'

Dimensions: W-30.5cm, D-3.5cm, H–40.5cm

Materials: ink, raw linen 

Method: painting, dyeing

Description:

Blue Hour occurs in the ephemeral moments between absolute darkness and light. Just before sunrise and just after sunset, with the sun beneath the horizon, monochrome suffuses the landscape, colour and vibrant detail give way to subtle tones and bold, layered silhouettes.

Providing a moment of solitude, the series hints at land and seascapes with enough abstraction to leave specifics to the individual viewer.  

Whist the flat nature of the ink mirrors the softening of blue hour, the texture of the raw linen matches the unpredictable irregularities of the natural landscape.  Intimately subtle changes in tone and light offer a delicate yet powerfully atmospheric scene.

About the Artist:

Born in the UK, Josephine grew up traveling, spending most of her life in Russia, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Returning to the UK for university where she completed a BA in Fine Art and an MA in Printmaking, she now lives and works in London.

Drawing from elements of abstraction and romanticism, Josephine’s current work explores perception, with underlying hints of nature, land, sea and cityscapes.

Creating imagery that is devoid of a prevailing narrative, Josephine’s work is not just open to, but encourages individual response, highlighting differences in experiences, memories and interpretations. Using traditional Japanese Aesthetics as a guiding principle, subtlety and detail are critical; the smallest of details can mark an image as either too literal, or as an image lacking in content.

Grounded in printmaking’s process and materials, her work has become increasingly experimental, working across multiple media. Using traditional techniques and materials in a non-traditional way, the creative process is as instrumental to the work as the initial concept or desired aesthetic.