JASON HICKLIN

Jason Hicklin RE has had regular shows at North House Gallery since the year 2000 and this exhibition is a chance to catch up with the last couple of years of his work. His preoccupations remain the effect of light on the wilder coasts of the British Isles and along the Thames with its changing skyline.

Jason’s etchings of the dramatic Pembrokeshire coast are mostly of a new, almost square format, with the exception of a couple of more elongated ones. This allows for a greater proportion of sky. The black headlands in the foreground are a strong contrast with the light in the sky and its reflection in the sea and on more distant headlands or islands. The clouds are etched in a vigorous way, which, though not apparently naturalistic, convey the turbulence of the Atlantic sky. In addition to the etchings there are headlands of West Cork in watercolour and islands of the Outer Hebrides in etching ink on large canvases.

Jason has been walking and making work about the Thames and its bridges since he was a student. In the 2021 set of twelve etchings the focus was rather the views from certain named points along the banks of the river and the light from a cold, misty sky on the iconic buildings and on the water. In the 2023 set the Shard, the Gherkin, the Walkie Talkie, Canary Wharf and the relatively new Scalpel are silhouetted against, or almost obliterated by, a stronger, warmer Spring light. As he walks or rides downstream, Jason is fascinated by the surprising changes in perspective on these landmarks because of the bends in the river. He finds constant inspiration and discovery from being beside the eternal river and from observing the city evolving along its banks.

Born in Wolverhampton in 1966, Jason studied at St Martin's School of Art and on the postgraduate course of Printmaking at Central School of Art in 1991 under Norman Ackroyd RA. Since then he has combined working as Ackroyd's studio assistant with producing his own work and teaching printmaking at City and Guilds of London Art School, where he is Head of Printmaking. He was elected a member of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers (RE) in 1993 and has had numerous solo and joint shows in the UK and abroad.