AMANDA WALLWORK

Amanda Wallwork paints history. Her images reflect the marks and traces left behind by people on places and objects, both deliberate and accidental. Her paintings are abstract interpretations that symbolise stories, places, journeys, rituals and time.

They are also a form of mapping; a mapping both of the present (of forms and objects seen openly in the landscape), and of the past (of forms and shapes buried within the ground, revealed only when seen from up high). The Dorset and Somerset landscapes are rich in archaeology that provides an endless source of inspiration – henges, hill forts, round barrows, standing stones. Her most recent work investigates mapped fields, numbered plots of land as seen in old land documents.

Wallwork’s paintings are constructed from layers of plaster and oil paint built up on 1 cm thick wood blocks, giving an impression of tiles. The layers are then scratched through to expose the layers beneath. This process, reminiscent of an archaeological excavation, reinforces this sense of time and antiquity. Furthermore, through her choice of colours and textures she gives her paintings the semblance of museum artefacts, a conscious decision inspired by artefacts in the Horniman Museum in South London which she knew early on in her life.

Selected Biography
1957 Born in South London
Foundation Course at Yeovil College
BA Hons in Graphic Design & Illustration at Brighton Polytechnic
Early career as a successful book illustrator
Lives and works in Dorset

Exhibitions
1999
‘Earth Marks and Birth Works’, Bridgwater Arts centre, Bridgwater (with Alan Wallwork – ceramicist)
‘On the Seashore’, The Old Bakehouse, Fishbourne, Chichester
Battersea Contemporary Arts Fair, London

2000
‘Patterns of the Past’, Sherborne House, Sherborne, Dorset

2001
The Bus Stop Gallery (travelling throughout Dorset & Somerset)

2001/05 Harlequin Gallery, Greenwich
2001/06 Affordable Art Fair, London

2003
Atrium gallery, Bournemouth University

2004
‘Haunt’, Timeline Project at Sherborne House, Sherborne
Somerset Art Week @ The meeting House, Ilminster
Brighton Art Fair
Blyth Gallery, Manchester

2005
‘Landmarks’, Walford Mill Craft centre, Wimbourne, Dorset

2006
Chelsea Art Fair