For immediate release:
Jennie Jewitt-Harris,
Watts Gallery’s Artist in Residence 2014 - 2015
Exhibition 16 June – 19 July 2015
Pottery Building, Watts Gallery - Artists’ Village
Dr Jennie Jewitt-Harris is exhibiting artworks created during her role as Artist in Residence in a
forthcoming solo exhibition at Watts Gallery – Artists’ Village in Compton.
Intricate sketches and humorous vintage-inspired collages clash in a riot of colour. Focussing on
subjects such as the passage of time, what it means to be British and the psychological implication
of memory, Jennie creates art with a social conscience.
Jennie’s work is created from layers of drawing, collage, stereoscopic photography, and found
objects. Drawn to the overlooked features of the memory, Jennie’s work explores the forgotten
and imagined aspects that go unnoticed in everyday life. Using elements from memories and
inconsistencies in recollection, Jennie looks to explore reminiscences by transferring them into her
work, where collected objects are woven into collages, as triggers of memories of a time or place,
such as books, photos, stamps and maps.
Supported by the University for the Creative Arts in Farnham, the Watts Gallery Artist in Residence
scheme offers recent postgraduates support to find inspiration from the Artists’ Village, it’s
surroundings, Collection and rich history. With the view to upholding the beliefs of Watts Gallery’s
founders, the Victorian artist George Frederic Watts OMRA (1817 – 1904) and his wife, the artist and
designer, Mary Seton Watts (1849 – 1938), the Artist in Residence scheme champions individual
expression through art.
The Artist in Residence scheme is part of the beating heart of the life at Watts Gallery – Artists’
Village and inspires all, from visitors to volunteers, students to the staff. When the light is on in the
Artist in Residence Studio and the artist can be spotted hard at work, or talking with a curious
visitor, there is a chance for us to think about the creative process today and the inspiration that G
F Watts, the collection, and the landscape provide for the living practitioner. Watts Gallery Trust is
not only about the past it is also about the future.
Jennie’s work has visibly drawn inspiration from the surroundings and the collection, using
discarded objects like gnarled and knotted tree stumps found in the Watts Gallery woodlands to
create alien landscapes and disjointed forms. The discarded wood embodies something of
anonymity yet at the same time physically shows its own individual long complex history, a living
thing that once inhabited the Surrey landscape.
“This exhibition marks the end of a significant time for me at Watts Gallery, where I have had the
opportunity to develop my artwork in a very stimulating and inspiring environment. It is also the
beginning of a new period of exploratory artwork for a PhD where I will continue to combine my
medical and psychology background with making art, as part of the Watts/UCA Scholarship scheme.
I’m very grateful indeed to all those involved at Watts and UCA for making it possible.” – Jennie
Jewitt-Harris
For further information:
www.wattsgallery.org.uk
@WattsGallery
facebook/WattsGalleryArtistVillage
– ENDS –
For further press information:
Tamsin Williams – tamsin@wigwampr.com - 01483 563562 - 07939 651252
Related events:
Jennie Jewitt Harris’ open studios as part of Surrey Artists Open Studios (SAOS)
Wednesday 17 - Sunday 21 June
Free
Watts at Dusk
Friday 5 June
Open until 9pm
As the sun sets on the Surrey Hills, explore a new side to Watts Gallery - Artists’ Village. Explore the
arts and entertainment on offer before getting a chance to talk to Jennie Jewitt-Harris about her
work and how the Artists’ Village has inspired her.
Watts Research Network
Wednesday 8 July
6.30 - 8pm
Free
You are invited to hear the latest research undertaken at Watts Gallery as well as new insights into
the work and lives of G F and Mary Watts and their contemporaries. Jennie Jewitt-Harris will be
showcasing her body of work created whilst Artist in Residence at Watts Gallery.