“Knit Picker.” All images © Strangford, shared with permission
Animal hijinks and playful puns fill the colorful prints of County Down-based artist Jo, also known as Strangford. Whippets in knits, bagel-scarfing badgers, and roly-poly felines are just a few of the characters that emerge from lino-cuts and Risographs. “The main surface I’m carving into is flooring lino—it comes in bigger pieces than artist lino—and plywood, though I’m a beginner at wood carving,” she tells Colossal. “I work from home. I’ve basically taken over the whole house now.”
With a background in ecology, Strangford discovered printmaking when she joined local Extinction Rebellion groups, decentralized initiatives designed to persuade governments to act on the climate emergency. “I had previously done a bit of digital work but fell in love with the process of carving and printing,” she says. During the pandemic, her work took on a more humorous and light-hearted quality. “When the world got more serious, my work became more playful.”
A solo exhibition of Strangford’s work opens tomorrow at The Workshop Ballynahinch and continues for two months. A selection of prints are available in the shop on her website, and you can follow updates on Instagram.
“Hole Food Diet”
“Silly Billies”
“Some Gulls Are Bigger Than Others”
“I’m Just a Paw Boy From a Paw Family”
“Semi-Snaked”
“Le Beak, C’est Chic”
“Long Otter”
“Ribbit For Her Pleasure”
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