jilly sutton
Mediums Used
Jilly Sutton trained at Exeter College of Art. She carves “in the round” large pieces of timber, the challenge being the plastic manipulation of the wood. Her mostly figurative work has a haunting beauty, with an over-riding feeling of peace. Her double sized head of the Poet Laureate is in the National Portrait Gallery collection. Much of her work is cast in bronze or sometimes olive-stone from her original carvings.
Jilly Sutton BA MRBS is a full-time sculptor working from her studio beside the River Dart.
For many years Jilly lived in Nigeria and drew inspiration from the art forms that flourished there, both carvings and textiles. Now her inspiration comes from an area closer to home – the ancient trees and woodland that surround her riverside home in Devon.
Her wooden sculptures are mainly figurative, but sometimes abstract. Her exhibitions with the Rebecca Hossack Gallery (22+ years) included an installation of 7 Elms inflicted by the fatal Dutch Elm Disease:- dug them up with their roots, and decorated with new interpretations linking man and tree.
Her portrait of poet Andrew Motion is part of the National Portrait Gallery`s permanent collection. She has exhibited and sold her sculptures around the world in both public and private collections.
Jilly Sutton quotes:- “Working with the unpredictable nature of wood is always hard but provides me with a constant challenge! the warmth, the surface texture and the predominantly grainy finish of the timber is all important to me. I sandblast most work to bring up the grain, adding another dimension to the carving, many are cast in bronze or other chemical composites”.
Sculptures by jilly sutton
Credentials
Qualifications
BA Hons ARBS, Exeter College of Art and Design,BA Hons ARBS, Exeter College of Art and Design
Exhibitions
yes
Publications
BBC News South West - 2012
Devon Artist Olympic Archery Eye - 2012
BBC Radio Devon - 2012
BBC Spotlight - 2011
Book: Modern British Sculpture - 2004
CBBC T.V. (Smart) - 2003
BBC Radio 4 "Sitting Pretty" - 2001
Sky TV (Arts Hour) - 2000.,BBC News South West - 2012
Devon Artist Olympic Archery Eye - 2012
BBC Radio Devon - 2012
BBC Spotlight - 2011
Book: Modern British Sculpture - 2004
CBBC T.V. (Smart) - 2003
BBC Radio 4 "Sitting Pretty" - 2001
Sky TV (Arts Hour) - 2000.
Jilly Sutton trained as a sculptor at Exeter College of Art, writing her thesis on the history of the foliated head as depicted in art. Her father and grandfather were both nurserymen and she lives with her architect husband and family in a wooden house on the bank of the River Dart in Devon. Jilly uses felled trees and often driftwood to carve her large wooden heads and figures, sometimes sandblasting them at the local boatyard to give a grainy texture, and using lime wash pigments to finish them.
