The Grammar of Ornament

The output for this project is a body of work consisting of 37 intricate hand cut papercuts and 37 related plates which was informed by the 1856 seminal publication Grammar of Ornament by architect and designer Owen Jones. The papercuts and ceramics correspond to, and are numbered according to each of the original thirty-seven propositions which form the ‘general principles in the arrangement of form and colour in architecture and the decorative arts.’ Each proposition provided a starting point in which the female figure appears as a protagonist serving to undermine and disrupt the rigidity of the Victorian hierarchical system as presented by Jones. The work also draws upon the ornate and richly coloured chromolithographic illustrations in the publication. The main body of work was first exhibited at jaggedart London and subsequently at New Hall Art Collection, University of Cambridge. A number of artworks were also included in Collect (Crafts Council) at Saatchi Gallery, London and formed a show (two person) at Clara Scremini Gallery, Paris. (Illustrated catalogue ISBN 978-1-903455-30-2)

A papercut from the project 'Grammar of Ornament' was selected for the Jerwood Drawing Prize 2014, and exhibition at the Jerwood Space London and UK tour (http://jerwoodvisualarts.org/jerwood-drawing-prize-2014).

The exhibition at New Hall Art Collection resulted in a commission (2 ceramic plates) by Murray Edwards College, University of Cambridge in recognition of 20 years of collaboration with the Kaetsu Family's Japanese college.

Design Week feature (http://www.designweek.co.uk/whats-on/the-grammar-of-ornament/3038065.article)

World of Interiors, back page listings, April edition

Interview with Studio International, July 2014
(http://www.studiointernational.com/index.php/charlotte-hodes-interview-painter-female-form-grammar-ornament)

Review by Liz Hoggard in Embroidery Magazine