The Arts & Culture Journal

Ann Norfield is not only a print-maker, but one who is pushing the medium to its limits. Her tireless and painstaking compositions layer delicate illustration with intriguing tonal backgrounds.

“Screen-print is traditionally used to give eye-catching clarity but I am trying in these pieces to use it to create fragile layers, giving a sense of uncertainty about what we see.”

This alluding sense of uncertainty is rife. Many of her images here comprise dark tree segments against pastel skies. The immediate effect is a stunning visual - the minimal branches slicing across her work beautifully contrasting against a rewarding backdrop. A patient look at her works reveal a background that in turn becomes more fascinating with varied mark-making and ever-so-slight tonal progression.

There is a certain likeness to the painted motif backgrounds of Tony Swain here. Yet where Swain juxtaposes and works over and into old newspaper texts, Ann uses varied patterns to create her visual base. These patterns will prove to be an important historical reference whilst also setting an uplifting tone of growth and prosperity due to her floral choices. 

Ann describes the subject of her work:

“My work always concerns the ephemeral nature of everything we do and everything we are. I work with fragile surfaces such as translucent papers or roofing slates, often using traces of delicate other-worldly colour.