Exeter artist to celebrate International Women's Day

To celebrate International Women’s Day, Exeter-based artist Janet Sainsbury will be on hand to talk about the additional drawings and paintings she made for her RAMM commission Points in a Constellation installed in the Courtyard’s Core Wall.  

Janet will be in conversation with Lara Goodband, Contemporary Art Curator & Programmer, at 11.30am.  

RAMM commissioned Janet in Spring 2023. She is known for her contemporary approach to portrait painting.  

She chose to study four women artists whose work is in RAMM’s art collection: two Exeter-based contemporary artists, Michelle Sank and Amy Shelton, and two artists with links to the southwest, Barbara Hepworth (1903-1975) and Gillian Ayres (1930-2018). Janet met, photographed and sketched both Sank and Shelton from life while she referred to historic photographs of Ayres and Hepworth to inform her sketches and create new portraits.  

She said: "I paint portraits of artists because I’m interested in their different paths and connections, how that relates to their inner lives and how that is expressed in their work. All four artists are connected, for me, by a passionate determination and how they emotionally and instinctively respond to the world around them."

The selected sketches and finished paintings offer a fascinating insight into Janet's artistic practice, illustrating a skill that combines both a bold palette and sensitive line, resulting in a unique style.  

Janet Sainsbury will be at RAMM on Saturday March 9 from 11 am to 3 pm with a temporary display of additional work made for this commission.

The artist will be in conversation with Lara Goodband, Contemporary Art Curator & Programmer, at 11.30am that day. Admission id free.