Proposal Abstract

Having grown up prior to, and during the Internet age, artists Jenny Robinson and Katherine Jones have a deep attachment to the physical world of paper and books as well as to the virtual pages and scrolls of the screen.

Through their virtual presence, Jones (London) and Robinson (San Francisco) have been witness, over time, to each other’s artistic character and development, building up a picture of the other’s work and motivations through new media.

Subsequent to the first meeting in 2019, Jones and Robinson decided to embark on a collaborative project that encompasses their artistic concerns, placing particular importance on drawing and experimentation as a starting point, employing non-toxic printmaking methods to realise the work.

The aim of the ‘Recto Verso’ project is to create two large collaborative prints to be hung together like the folded pages of a book, linking a suite of each artist’s recent prints.

The term ‘Recto/Verso’ originally referred to two-sided panel paintings dating as far back as the 15th century and later became associated with the pages of a book. ‘Recto’ in Latin means right or correct and ‘Verso’ means changed or turned as in the underside of an unturned page.

While there are clear aesthetic parallels between their practices, each artist’s particular motivations and intellectual journeys are quite separate. The collaboration will build directly from ongoing projects and concentrate on forging conceptual, visual and physical links across continents in pursuit of gaining real insight into one another’s process.

Working remotely each artist will start the visual dialogue with a ‘Recto’, and will continue to exchange and discuss ideas in order to connect the works that will not be seen together until the end of the project—when the paper is seamed together for IMPACT 11, Hong Kong.