Statement
My work explores the complexity of female identity, juxtaposing themes of beauty, adornment and trauma, in various media, including drawing, painting, collage and performance. In portraits in which these themes collide or uneasily co-exist, the work presents an array of uncanny beauties. These women, whilst aiming to attain or maintain rigorous standards of surface aesthetics, invite examination of their fractured inner lives and the narrative threads which underpin their obsessive self-regard.
After my Fine Art degree and several years exhibiting my work, I undertook Arts and Psychotherapy training, during which time I also gained understanding of my Neurodivergence, and how this impacts both disciplines I practise. More recently I completed a Jungian Arts based Research project which further deepened my connection to the psychological underpinnings of the work: I am curious about how the Unconscious emerges through the process of making, whether I like it or not.
I am fascinated by the idea of multiple internal parts of self and how these appear, often in series which can differ greatly in their formal aspects. Collage is foundational to the work, whatever the materials used, and I have come to view this technique as a metaphor for the continuing integration of psychic fragments. Current concerns centre around the archetypes of the maiden and the harridan, mining diverse source material from fairytales, fashion and the history of art.
Biography
Education
Jungian Arts based Research (Jungian Society for Scholarly Studies) Oct-Nov 2025
MSc Psychotherapy (with Distinction), Metanoia Institute / University of Middlesex 2022
PG Cert Counselling using the Arts, Institute for Arts in Therapy and Education 2016
BA Fine Art (First class Honours), Chelsea College of Art 2004-2007
Diploma in Foundation Studies, Chelsea College of Art 1999-2000
Exhibitions
ING Discerning Eye, selected by Polly Morgan, Mall Galleries, (London 13 - 23 November 2025)
Annual Open, Southwark Park Galleries, London 8 November – 6 December 2025
Your Work Here, The Amelia Scott, Tunbridge Wells, Kent 13 February 13 – 1 June 2025
Gap in exhibitions due to Arts and Psychotherapy training
Summer show, Art Psychotherapy exhibition, IATE, Islington, London June 2016
31st Annual Open, CPG Gallery, Southwark, London August 2015
Zeitgeist Summer Exhibition curated by Rosalind Davis, Bond House gallery, New Cross, London 10-12 July 2014
Work in Progress, tribute to James Joyce and his collaborators by Sumi Perera & co, exhibited Nicosia, Cyprus and Bankside, London, June/ July 2014
Project Two Thousand and Fourteen, online collaboration by Nicola Fitzsimmons, Jan-Dec 2014 (contribution 13 April 2014)
First Come First Served, Lion & Lamb Gallery, Hoxton, London 15 Dec 2013-11 Jan 2014
ZAP Open 2013 (part of Deptford X Arts Festival) selected by Susan Collis, Graham Crowley, Rosalind Davis, Annabel Tilley, Bond House Gallery, New Cross, London 26 Sept-5 Oct 2013
I am the Warrior, (a Juneau Projects event with Worcester Open), Worcester Museum & Art Gallery, Worcester, 13-27 July 2013
Zeitgeist Summer Exhibition curated by Rosalind Davis, Bond House Gallery, New Cross, London 18-20 July 2013
Modern Beauties, Grade 2 listed building, SE London, 8-11 May 2013
400 Women, Shoreditch Town Hall, London 2010, touring exhibition - Amsterdam 2012
Home, Two Chelsea graduates, with Jeremy Evans, Grade II listed building, Blackheath, London, February 2008
inconclusion, Islington Arts Factory, London 2008
Forget me, Gristle Mountain artists’ collective, Fort Brockhurst, Hampshire 2008
Top 25 London Graduates, Salon Contemporary, Westbourne Grove London 2007
Xhibit, University of the Arts, London 2006
Performance Series, Waterstone’s Booksellers, London 2005
Xhibit, University of the Arts, London 2000
Publications
Transition Gallery Editions: Arty 24 – ‘Entertainment’ curated by Cathy Lomax
Work in private collections in the US and Europe
Contact
Email: janearchertownsend@gmail.com
Social Media
Instagram: @janearchertownsend