Northtown Collection
- Angie Rogers
- 7 days ago
- 2 min read
Introducing you to the Northtown Collection, a compact body of work I have developed over time.
Weavers cottages, terraced houses, a classical town hall and a huge mill are all rubbing shoulders together in the jumbled geometry and dignified disorder of Northtown.
The initial starting point was a commission for an organisation celebrating the landscape and settlements straddling the South Pennine watershed. They wanted a monochrome townscape depicting an archetypal town where the rural gradually became industrialised.
I researched notable buildings from small towns like Hebden Bridge, Todmorden and Uppermill and amalgamated them into an imaginary townscape.
I chose to use the medium of woodcut printing partly because I love working with wood and because forested valleys form a big part of the experience of living in these places now.
Woodcuts are also part of the history of the democratisation of information, bringing new ideas in the form of images for those who could not read.
As a printmaker I felt the graphic qualities of woodcut would combine perfectly with the characteristic simplification of folk art to create my original panoramic image printed in black and white.
Subsequently I cropped and coloured prints to accentuate different aspects of the larger image. I also printed onto brown paper and contrasted torn and cut edges to differentiate between natural and man-made forms.
I learned how to use a laser cutter so I could include intricate and precisely cut elements to the mix.
The free-standing sculptural piece Tiny Town is the latest development in this collection and sits well with the framed works on the wall, making a cohesive statement.
Working on a collection at length allows opportunities to make connections and considered decisions. Speed is not of the essence. Things take time to evolve.
The works in this collection are either completely unique or small editions.
At the time of writing, these framed prints are exhibited and available to buy in the Art Room Gallery at Spirals on Market Street in Hebden Bridge. Unframed works from the collection are available to buy in my website shop, see Northtown Collection in the menu. The 3 variants of Tiny Town can also be purchased direct from my shop under Woodcut Townscapes.
