NEWCASTLE twins Jennifer and Catherine Strutt have been dedicating themselves to their art for more than 25 years. The pair are moving into new studio premises after 21 years at Newcastle Community Arts Centre (NCAC).
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After graduating from Hunter Street’s Newcastle School of Art the artists completed a bachelor of visual arts at the University of Newcastle.
But it was not until the end of their final year at university they began to collaborate, and it was out of necessity.
“We had to make a major work … we were working individually and it was clear we were not going to make the deadline,” Jennifer Strutt said.
“We had to combine forces, abandon what we were doing and make a new work which combined painting and screen printing. And we didn’t present our screen prints on paper, we did it on wood.
“We were then able to add our painting and building skills on to it and just made one massive structure, a stage work.”
Catherine Strutt explains the use of wood: “We were filthy and couldn’t keep the paper clean, everyone else kept their paper clean and ours was filthy with ink marks around the edge.”
The problem which led to the use of wood has since become a signature component of their work.
After graduating from university the sisters moved into a studio at NCAC from where they have worked for 21 years. This week the pair were packing up a lifetime of work in order to move into a new studio space at Cardiff.
Not long after graduating they began a long relationship with the Sydney-based Damian Minton Gallery after he spotted their work at a group exhibition in Newcastle.
The relationship lasted until about 2010 when they decided to strike out on their own and in doing so developed new mediums for their practice, including jewellery making.
More recently they have moved into bespoke interiors, featuring handmade tiles. Each piece is a one-off and can be used as splash backs in kitchens.
“The bum has fallen out of the art-market,” Catherine Strutt said.
“But people will buy pieces of work if they have a practical use.”
For the next 12 months the Strutt sisters plan on refocusing on their arts-based business after a “tough” year. Three family members died and the pair were forced out of the their studio after the sale of NCAC.
The Strutt sisters are also musicians and divide their creativity between music and visual arts.
Visit the website: thestruttsisters.com
