For Janet Treby, being human is about wondrous imagination, the musing of gods, and the observation of all that is magical in nature. Her work springs from the traditions that are part of her consciousness. This collective cultural consciousness is the heritage she carries, common to all of us, of the artistic and mythological traditions of our past that lives in us. With her, these influences surface and mingle with her fascination for the human figure to produce a contemporary, yet traditional synthesis, rare in the world of contemporary art.
"To me there is no past or future in Art. If a work of art cannot always live in the present, it should not even be considered. The art of the Greeks, the Egyptians and the great painters, is not an art of the past. Perhaps it is more alive today than it ever was". -Picasso
As a child, Treby led an unusually solitary existence. She occupied her time riding, playing in the countryside, and drawing and painting, which from an early age she loved. Her main inspiration came from Kit Williams, the now celebrated illustrator of Masquerade. She was much taken by the enthusiasm he had for his craft and the vigour with which he pursued the life of an artist.
For two years she studied sculpture, ceramics, textiles and graphics at Barnfield Art School, before deciding upon a three year degree course in sculpture and printmaking at West Surrey College (1974-1977). Through Sculpture and the modelling of the human form Janet learned to draw superbly until it became as natural to her as walking and talking.
She also turned her attention to printmaking which proved to be an ideal medium for expressing her ideas. She went on to study at the Slade (1978-1980). She won many prizes, including the much vaunted Elizabeth Greenshield award for figurative work, as well as becoming the Lloyds Bank "Young Printmaker of the Year" and then moved on to teach printmaking at Farnham and at the Ruskin School of Drawing in Oxford.
There were now two central themes in her work; Firstly the dichotomy of action and tranquility, and secondly the liberation of the human spirit from material restraint.
"I've always been fascinated by movement and the way the body works. In my work I have been able to create a mixture of reality and fantasy by contorting the body and manipulating the form to perform fantastic acts of extreme playfulness and sensuality. My pictures are like plays, where real people pretend to be other than they are and do more than they are capable of doing. I am personally liberated through my work and it enables me to indulge my instincts."
Her studies of figures in motion show their attempt to escape from earthly confines: released from constraining shackles they are delivered into an ethereal land, a world in which humans frolic and fly and dance to the tune of the wind.
In her quieter work, her still lifes and observations of groups of figures lead us into a more intimate world. Thinly drawn figures embrace themselves with shrouds, twisting and turning, caressed into a sensual fusion of forms. We enter a new land, an intimate female haven, set apart from the harsh reprisals of the outside world, where secrets are shared, and women are free to indulge their quiet self-conscious supremacy.
At present Janet's main effort is concentrated on the making of lithographic and serigraphic prints. She has moved away from the lush black tonal images of her early mezzotints to a more linear and sensual description of the human form.
"My work is concerned with the future and a single movement held in suspension. Each lithograph is complete in itself, but, as in a cartoon, the first image is closely related to the second, and the second to the third, as if in narration. The figures are enhanced by the emptiness of the interiors they inhabit, left free to twist and dance and fly without encumbrance".
Printmaking suits her well. "I work directly onto the plates and screens, preserving absolutely the beauty and fluency of line. My skill in drawing is severely tested since there is little opportunity for correction and amendment. The soft pastel colours create a luminosity, bathing the figures in light, as if on a stage where they enact their sensual fantasy."
Born: 1955
Educated: West Surrey College of Art and Design. Slade College of Art.
Teaching: West Surrey College of Art. Ruskin School of Drawing, Oxford. Barnfield College, Luton. Southill Park College, Bracknell.
1976 Royal Society of Etchers
1977 Touring Exhibition of Australia
1978 Stowells Trophy Exhibition
1980'/82/84 Curwen Gallery
1982 Southhill Park Gallery
1983 The Figure
1987 Curwen Gallery
1991 Royal Gallery
1992 St Helier Gallery
March 1995 Studio of Long Grove, Illinois.