Reunion Hill, paper collage, pencil & paint, 89cm x 75cm
Don’t fight the hook, paper collage, pencil & paint, 54cm x 66cm
Suzie, Gabriel & Raphael, paper collage, pencil & paint, 59cm x 74cm
Shellie Byatt
Shellie Byatt was born and brought up in London, and took her degree at Goldsmiths College. She later obtained a postgraduate teaching qualification, and has subsequently worked with young children in primary schools and workshops. After leaving London, she lived and worked in Norfolk for ten years before moving to Hereford in 2001. Recent exhibitions include a current national touring exhibition, Wagging Tongues with two other artists; h.Art Herefordshire Art Week Open Exhibition 2005 at Hereford City Art Gallery; As the Saying Goes, Parkfields Gallery, Ross-on-Wye (2005); and in 2004, Feast of Fancies, The Art Shop, Abergavenny, Dark Tales, All Saints Church, Hereford and Mermaids and Other Tales, The Courtyard, Hereford. She has shown and sold her work in various galleries in London, East Anglia, Wales and the Midlands.
I have been fascinated since childhood by words and images, and how we use them to tell stories which might help us to make sense of the world and, in particular, human relationships. I like ambiguity and riddles, and try to include these in my images. I am particularly intrigued and delighted when people see part of their own story in my work, especially when it is something I have not knowingly put in.
As I work on an image, I deliberately allow other ideas to wander in and take their place in the picture. This gives the work a life of its own rather than being merely an illustration of an idea. Keeping open to this intuitive way of working allows in ideas from many sources which often, and happily, surprise me.
Among my sources of inspiration are medieval and outsider art, as well as the imagery of young children who can still enjoy and express their inner world without censorship. Music is also an important inspiration, as well as a necessary part of my working environment.
In earlier work I used a lot of textiles, and my love of colour and pattern is still evident in my images today. I have developed my particular form of collage over several years, using mainly drawing but now with the addition of paint and inks. I use colour and pattern symbolically as well as for visual pleasure.
Shellie Byatt, 2006