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I Understand

Peter Ford RWA RE

Peter Ford uses found objects to create imagery of sophisticated patterning and form. He makes his own paper from recycled high grade acid free pulp, onto which he impresses various materials resulting in stunning one-off unique prints of mesmerising texture.

Ford’s practice has evolved into a lifetime of work that exceeds the boundaries of 2-dimentional printmaking. He makes strong emphasis on materiality and process to reveal the hidden beauty within everyday life. He recognises the potential of items such as a scrap piece of shed roofing felt, computer memory boards, a cheese grater, and even fish bones.

Ford also has a strong focus on the passing of time – the act of imbedding and recording various objects is in a way a form of preservation, creating works with an air of transience and impermanence. In one exquisite example, ‘After Rain’, Ford harnesses the weather as a time-based form of mark making. In this particular piece the delicacy of rainfall is harmoniously captured on a square of pulped paper, resulting in a moon-like cratered surface.

There are many threads to Ford’s practice, including his reputable work in personalised bookplate design, which draws much attention in China where his reputation has grown significantly into a wider appreciation of his practice. He now exhibits regularly in China and has had four solo exhibitions since 2014. 

Ford is a fellow of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers and a member of the Royal West of England Academy, as well as a member of the International Association of Papermaking Artists. Ford’s work is exhibited world-wide, he has many prizes to his name, recently including the Printmaking Today prize (2015), The Guanlan International Print Prize (China, 2015) and the RA Summer Exhibition Prize for Printing (2013). His work is part of 15 national and international public collections, including The Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, the V&A, Tate Britain, the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art and the Musée de la Publicité, Paris.

Articles and Reviews

The Bath Magazine Dec 2017

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Galleries Magazine Dec 2017

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