Hollows in the Cloth, 2020

Katherine Jones RA (b. 1979)

RA Collection: Art

Jones produced Hollows in the Cloth for a show called 'We Grew the Long Bones' developed as part of a residency at Eton College in 2021. The collection of prints displayed focused on female archetypes, namely the crone and specifically Baba Yaga, the witch from Slavic folklore and fairy tales. Here, Baba Yaga's table is laid with plates and bowls with slices of raw bacon, a melon, condiments and shadows.

The artist’s research for this project included reading around female archetypes from folklore and myth. Baba Yaga is a nuanced character who is usually presented as cruel but sometimes also as logical and fair. Jones suggests that Baba Yaga is an ‘…analogy for the increasingly fragmented way in which a woman’s work and personal life is subdivided to fit an unrealistic ideal’.

Hollows in the Cloth is a collagraph block-print. Jones frequently uses this method which is based on collage, utilising textured materials added to the plate’s surface to hold the ink. This method has been used widely by artists over the years using a range of non-specialist materials and varying approaches. Jones' process for creating these prints begins with numerous small maquettes and also sketches in watercolour made in order to work out starting points before moving on to larger, more laborious work.

Though not conceptual in the traditional sense, Jones’ work is in equal parts research and process-led. She engages with the work of writers such as Janet Frame and Lydia Davis and painters Georgia O’Keeffe and Prunella Clough, as well as mythical characters like Baba Yaga.

Further information:

https://www.katherine-jones.co.uk/

https://www.oliverprojects.com/we-grew-the-long-bones

https://www.cbcurates.com/editorial/in-conversation-withprintmaker-katherine-jones