Meet The Artist
Hester Cox
Hester Cox has a BA(Hons) in Illustration from Harrow School of Art and Design and now lives in Masham, North Yorkshire. She works as a printmaker, designing and making relief and collagraph plates which are then printed in layers to form one richly coloured and textured limited edition print. Currently she is exploring the possibilities of photopolymer printmaking (solar plate). By using the sun and transparencies made from drawings and her digital photographs an etching or relief plate can be made that adds another layer to the resulting image.
Her inspiration is often derived from the natural landscape, the plants and wildlife that inhabit it and the stories, myths and symbolism associated with them. She uses multiple plates and techniques to echo the layers of meaning and metaphor in the images. Poetry and the written word are also starting points for an idea.
In April 2006 she returned from a year and half of travelling, studying and working in Asia & Central and South America. This journey provoked a body of work exploring the diverse colours, imagery and culture of these places and has shown an influence in her recent work.
Hester exhibits widely in Yorkshire and the UK and her work has been featured in the magazines Country Living, Artists and Illustrators and Pagan Dawn & by organisations such as Friends of the Earth, RHS Garden Harlow Carr & Bradford City Council. Her working process and ideas have recently been filmed by choreographer and dancer Kathinka Walter. She has used this as the basis for a contemporary dance piece, ‘Gleichzeitig’, which explores layering of imagery and metaphor. This was performed at The Place, London & Yorkshire Dance Centre, Leeds.
Working mainly as a printmaker, I design and make photopolymer, relief and collagraph plates that I then print in layers to form one richly coloured and textured limited edition print. My inspiration often comes from the natural landscape, the plants and wildlife that inhabit it and the stories, myths and symbolism associated with them. The multiple plates and techniques I use echo the layers of meaning and metaphor in the images. Poetry and the written word are also starting points for an idea and recently my travels in Asia, Central and South America have provoked a new body of work exploring the ideas of migration, dislocation and orientation both mentally and physically. I find using symbols in my printmaking is a powerful way of connecting with the viewer’s unconscious to communicate ideas.
C.V.
Born: 1971, Reading, England
Works: Masham, North Yorkshire
Qualifications: 1994 BA (Hons) Illustration – 2:1, Harrow School of Art
and Design, Middlesex.
1990 General Foundation Certificate in Art & Design – Pass, Berkshire College of Art and Design, Berks.
Skills: Collagraph, relief & solar plate printmaking, photography, drawing.
Workshops: I regularly run printmaking workshops. These have included two-day workshops ‘An Introduction to Collagraph Printmaking’ for adults, a three-hour hand-printmaking workshop for adults and children at Masham Arts Festival and, most recently, I have delivered workshops in secondary schools on behalf of Rural Arts North Yorkshire as well as regularly running their after school arts club.
Commissions: Commissions undertaken include for Friends of the Earth, the Northern Horticultural Society, Bradford City Council, Yorkshire Association for Disabled People, RJC Dance Theatre, Thames Valley Mammal Group and Babtie Public Services Ltd.
Collaborations: My working process and ideas have recently been filmed by choreographer and dancer Kathinka Walter. She has used this as the basis for a contemporary dance piece, ‘Gleichzeitig’, which explores layering of imagery and metaphor. This was being performed at The Place, London in May and Yorkshire Dance in June.
FORTHCOMING EXHIBITIONS
‘Nest’ Dales Countryside Museum, Hawes: 6th September to 1st October 2008. Nest: A Birds Nest in a Besom. One subject freely interpreted in a wide variety of media.
The Harlow Carr Artists Summer Exhibition: 23rd July – 10th August.
Coastlines, The Gallery, Masham.12th July – 18th August. A group show.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
‘Past and Present’, The Old Courthouse, Rural Arts, Thirsk. September 2007
Shine, York, Aug 2007 – January 2008.
‘Journeys’, The Gallery, Masham. A solo exhibition of new prints influenced by my recent travels in Asia and South and Central America. October/November 2006.
Harlow Carr Botanical Gardens, Harrogate, exhibitions of collagraph prints and paintings, annually 1996 - 1999
GROUP & JOINT EXHIBITIONS
The Mariners Gallery, St.Ives. March 2008.
Blake Head Vegetarian Café & Bookshop, joint with Josie Beszant. August/Sept 2007
‘Figuratively Speaking’, The Gallery, Masham, 2007.
‘Art in the church’, St.Just, Cornwall, 2007.
Art for Youth North, St.Mary’s School, Topcliffe, 2007.
Newby Hall, with Leeds Fine Art Club, 2007.
Pyramid Gallery, York, 2007 .
‘Artsmill Winter Fare’ Artsmill, Hebden Bridge, 2006.
Summer Exhibition, RHS Garden Harlow Carr, Harrogate, 2004.
‘March Hare’, Cupola Gallery, Sheffield, 2004.
‘Leeds Fine Art Club Exhibition’, The Walker Gallery, Harrogate, 2004.
‘FEVA Festival’ Henshaws Arts and Craft Centre, Knaresborough, 2004
Holmfirth Open Exhibition, Holmfirth, S.Yorkshire, 2003.
‘Miniature Print Exhibition’ Artlink Xchange, Hull, 1999, 2001 & 2003
Helmsley Arts Centre with painter Josie Beszant 2002
Leeds Library Art Space with Leeds Fine Art Club 2002
‘Summer Exhibition’, Pyramid Gallery, Stonegate, York, 2001
'Impressions of the Natural World' at Harlow Carr Botanical Gardens, Harrogate, 2001.
'Art for Youth North' Leyburn, 2001.
'Hidden Grace' The Gallery, Masham, with Josie Beszant, 2001.
Exhibition at the Morven Gallery, Isle of Lewis, with Jon McLeod and Anne Campbell, 2001.
‘Life in the Garden’ The annual summer exhibition at Harlow Carr Botanical Gardens, Harrogate, 2000, 1999, '98, '97 & '96
‘Noah’s Ark’, The Gallery, Masham, 2001.
‘New Stories’ The Gallery, Masham, with Josie Beszant, 2001.
‘Northern Printmakers’ The Gallery, Masham, 1999.
‘Painted Dreams’, The Gallery, Masham, with Josie Beszant,1998.
‘20 by 20’ University Gallery, University of Northumbria, 1997.
‘13th Leeds Art Fair’ at the Corn Exchange, Leeds, 1997.
‘After Turner’ at Farnley School, Otley, 1996.
‘12th Leeds Art Fair’, Leeds, 1996.
‘Fish, Flesh & Fowl’ at The Art & Design Movement, Leeds, 1996.
Journals: Artists and Illustrators, Country Living and Pagan Dawn (Cover).