Jo Greenslade

“Railway trains only begin to exist when they are derailed…aeroplanes achieve existence only when they are hijacked” (Perec 2010) 
I mainly work with lino because it allows an increased level of control over the designs I create and print whilst giving me complete immersion into the design I carve. The delicacy of the material, the permanence of the marks made, and the fragility of the carved lines means that high levels of concentration are required - the designs I carve translate that fragility which is reflected in my delicate designs of butterflies. 
I tend to focus on nature, in particular butterflies, for their beautiful and unique scale designs, colours and visual effects; I attempt to reflect their diaphanous structures through my designs as well as the canvas that I print upon. 
I have begun to take an in-depth interest into installation art as it allows a viewer to have a personal connection and therefore a more meaningful experience with the work displayed. I attempt to express delicacy and fragility through subject and material - my focus on butterflies is for their beauty in the natural world of which many people take for granted, and with many species becoming endangered, butterflies risk becoming a missing sight from our landscape. In response to this decline, I aim to create work that is intricate and detailed, to hold the viewer's attention for an extended period of time, in the hope of prompting an air of contemplation of the subject of butterflies and their increasing rarity in the wild. 
Perec, G., (2010). An Attempt at Exhausting a Place in Paris. Edited by M. Lowenthal. Wakefield Press.