Entitled Form, it features diverse, beautiful and experimental work through mediums such as pen and ink, lino printing, oils and a medium I’ve never heard of before, tufting.
A textile manufacturing technique, the artist uses a hand-held tufting gun to ‘shoot’ yarn through a felt backing. The results are colourful pieces that can be rugs, throws or wall hangings.
‘I love it because you can work with any size and shape,’ explained Caitlin. ‘But the magic starts when you shave them with an electric shaver to create 3D shapes.
‘It’s a lot of fun but I have to think of the neighbours and be careful not to use the gun too late – it’s quite noisy.’
Pieces in this medium include a half moon, a strawberry and a portrait of Caitlin’s late rabbit, Crumpet (‘He was the love of my life’) to larger pieces depicting abstract nudes, including one in the form of a Celtic knot.
Some of the lino prints on show have been delicately enhanced with a scalpel.
‘The technique is called kirie, it’s Japanese and means “cut picture”. These have been printed on pages of the poem Jaberwocky from Alice In Wonderland. I bought a copy when I was in Berlin.’
Another lino print is a nude entitled Miss Print.
‘It went wrong,’ Caitlin admits. ‘I used oil-based ink and it left an oily residue on the lino. And when I printed again with normal ink it came out like this.’
The result is a striking bubbled, marbled effect.
‘Now I have to try and figure out how to do it on purpose. It’s all experimental. A “happy accident” as Bob Foss used to say.’
In 2021 Caitlin began Drink & Draw, a life drawing club which takes place upstairs at The Golden Lion every Wednesday from 6.45 to 9pm. It began as a small passion project but it has grown into a much-loved and well-attended community event.
‘Attendance is semi-consistent. People who haven’t come in a year say it’s different but we still have our hardcore regulars and some who turn up every now and then. We’ve had 60 models and thousands of attendees over the years and it’s still popular.
‘I’m hoping to do a life drawing as part of the exhibition, perhaps towards the end.’
She also takes the club on its annual summer social to Drink & Draw club down to Le Jaonnet Bay.
‘The next one is pencilled in on Saturday 15 August, weather dependent.’
Caitlin describes Form as ‘a big bucket list’.
‘Everything here, apart from three or four done at Drink & Draw, I’ve done specifically for the exhibition. I got an email from Bridgette [Pallot, the NTG museum coordinator] in November saying someone had dropped out and would I like to exhibit. I had a lot of free time and I thought “Let’s do something amazing”.’
Caitlin’s parents came from Scotland for the opening night of the show, with her father helping to hang the work in the lead up.
She believes that everyone should be creative.
‘People should not be afraid of being bad at what they do. Come out of your comfort zone. Sing badly, dance badly, draw badly. People say “Oh, I’m not good at drawing”. When did you stop doing something because you’re not good at it?’
Form by Caitlin Grupping is at Art at the Park, NTG Folk and Costume Museum, Saumarez Park until Friday 3 July. Opening times are 10am to 5pm Monday to Sunday. Entry is free.
To find out more about Caitlin’s work and Drink & Draw, visit www.instagram.com/ping.studios and www.facebook.com/drinkanddrawguernsey.
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