Jacqueline M.A. Jarvis

I graduated from Falmouth College of Art in 1996, following this with post graduate studies at Exeter University: this provided me with knowledge of contemporary conceptual art which underpins my approach to my art practice. My work is also informed by attention to the landscape and a love of poetry, philosophy and art history. From early childhood I have had an intense interest in the natural world which I explore using the complex motif of the passage of time, often expressed in the form of visual diaries. These depict the incremental changes of the continuously changing landscape, and invariably include the phases of the moon which helps to anchor the act of painting in time and space. It is apposite to say that the companionable presence of the moon in the sky has evolved into a poetic muse whose refracted light enchants, delights and inspires my work. For example, a recent painting, The Thief of Sunlight was inspired by Riddle 29 from the Exeter Book of Riddles. This wonderful 10th century Anglo - Saxon poem features a horned nocturnal creature who steals sunlight and displays his plunder in a bower. “A reclaiming creature rose in the morning sky and retrieved its belongings and banished the night creature westwards”. The riddle can be Interpreted as a metaphor for lunar cycles.