Body of work composed by 9 silk artworks, screen printed.

Installation shoot in Dungeness, UK, 2019

The Birth Of Gentle Beings

The Birth of Gentle Beings marks an articulation of my interest in material as presence rather than medium. 

Two people walking along a pebbled beach holding large skeletal masks, with the sky in the background.

I began from the premise that material is not passive. Each surface carries its own temperament — responsive, active, capable of alteration. Rather than imposing image onto fabric, I worked to create conditions in which silk, pigment, and pressure could assert their own character through texture, form, and dimensionality. 

The works emerged through negotiation: between resistance and yielding, weight and lightness, control and surrender. 

Layering became both method and inquiry. Aggressively worked surfaces were applied to delicate silk, allowing density to inhabit fragility. The tension between force and softness produced a recalibration of perception. What appeared heavy began to lift. What seemed insubstantial gained structure. 

In this series, I was questioning the boundaries we construct between animate and inanimate, between material and environment. By situating the prints within natural settings — exposing them to air, light, and movement,

Close-up of a dried flower with crinkled petals against a light background.

I allowed them to register forces beyond the studio. 

The work did not simply represent nature; it entered into relation with it. Revealing new perspectives on how we perceive material interaction with nature and art as an active participant in dynamic with the laws of nature.  

These pieces trace an early exploration of how contradiction can be held without collapse. Harsh and delicate, deliberate and contingent, internal and external — the oppositions remain visible yet suspended. The works do not resolve tension; they stabilise it. 

This series initiated my ongoing inquiry into perceptual thresholds: how material presence can shift our understanding of weight, agency, and coherence. What began as an intuitive engagement with surface and texture has continued to unfold into a deeper investigation of how clarity emerges — not through certainty, but through sustained attention. 

All images credits © Janine Saul

2019

View Full Catalogue ▼

Close-up of a black fabric with a contrasting beige fabric underneath, showing texture and layering.
Close-up photo of three folded fabrics in beige, maroon, and dark blue colors with different textures.
Close-up of a painted surface with abstract design in blue, orange, and dark red colors.
Close-up of rolled textured fabric in various shades of grey and blue.
Close-up view of several rolled-up newspapers with paint splatters and ink marks, some with a red-orange stripe.
Close-up of rusted metal pipes with a detailed, textured surface showing rust and corrosion.
A large printed flag with a mountain landscape and sky, held by a person with a beaded bracelet, against a blue sky, with a small decorative trophy or bowl labeled 'Come Aim' on a surface below.
Close-up of a seashell with sand and sky in the background.