Jilly Sutton
Artist Statement
"It never ceases to be a challenge to work with the vagaries of the organic nature of wood , but a love of the warmth, grain, and the re-cycling of ancient trees are all important to me. I like to feel the peaceful serenity of our Devon surroundings comes through in the sculpture.'
Jilly Sutton
Wood is a living medium. To carve it - to follow its lines, to respect its limits, to unlock its secrets - requires not only a skillful hand, but a rare artistic spirit. Jilly Sutton has that skill and spirit. They are in her blood. She came from a family of tree nurserymen. But, if her love of wood is inherited, her vision is particularly her own.
Her work is arresting and individual. She carves monumental heads - usually out of lime wood. They have the boldness, and simplicity of myth. Sutton spent several years in Nigeria (learning the art of indigo dying) and there is something of African carving in the strength of her own work. But is tempered by other influences, by the art of Mitoriaj and Brancusi, by close observation of life, and above all by a responsiveness to the promptings of her block of wood.