Caris Jackson

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Repurposing, reimagining and reinventing. Caris Jackson is a collage artist extraordinaire who takes the abandoned, unloved and unwanted to transforms them into unique art works that are rich in narrative and intrigue.

 

Caris decided to become an Artist after visiting a student degree show aged four. Fourteen years later she returned to study a Foundation in Art & Design, followed by a Fine Art degree at Liverpool John Moores University. She has worked as an art tutor in a number of colleges and institutions, including teaching at HMP Parc in South Wales for 5 years. She founded the participatory arts company Octopus Arts Shropshire and is an Artist Rep for the National Theatre Speak Up programme in partnership with Wolverhampton Grand Theatre.

 

Recently her collages were transformed into a bespoke wallpaper mural, telling the story of London markets and the history of the Tyburn Stone at Hilton London Metropole Hotel. Her work is inspired by theatrical spaces, performers and objects, which she creates by re-purposing vintage prints and papers, layered and embellished with fabric remnants and recycled items to create opulent multifaceted art works.

 

The theatricality of her work is no doubt influenced by her childhood visits to Wolverhampton’s Grand Theatre and nostalgic stories of her glamorous great-grandmother running the sweet shop next door in the 1950’s. The memory of magically stepping into an extravagant world of red velvet curtains and ornate flocked wallpaper continues to inform much of her work.

 

Caris says:

‘I enjoy finding potential in things that have been given away or discarded. I choose to work with recycled and repurposed materials because I like the evidence of age, imperfections, of being used, worn and handled. Each piece is a combination of the things that I am drawn to and, much like the collage process itself, I combine inspiration from many sources; vintage magician’s posters, elaborate costumes, Iconic personalities, fairy tales, mythology and folklore. The characters that emerge have their own stories to tell.’

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Materials: Vintage prints, papers, fabric remnants, recycled items and found objects