Caris’s collage work chosen for capital

Wellington-based Caris Jackson, who specialises in collage work, was commissioned by The Hilton London Metropole Hotel to design three bespoke permanent artworks.

“These tell the story of the local London markets and thehistory of an 18th century way-maker, the Tyburn Stone, which resides within the hotel restaurant,” explained Caris.

Her original A2 sized collages were transformed into a 2.4m x 4.24m wallpaper mural incorporating three-dimensional neon lighting and hand-finished textures.

Her artwork was spotted on her Instagram page and it was felt that her style was perfect for the centrepiece of the recently-refurbished restaurant.

Caris said: “The brief was to create a piece of collage art juxtaposing old-fashioned pictures of people with bright, modern clothing and gadgets and for each side of the central column to tell a distinctive story.

“It mixes historical characters through the ages such as traders, carts with fresh food and produce with modern day shoppers and tourists.

“Every image used in the collage is from repurposed printed paper. I sourced old book pages, postcards and prints - some being over 100 years old - showing images of old London, the Tyburn Stone, as well as Oxford St with horse and carts.

“Other image sources came from vintage London Illustrated News and National Geographic, plus current Vogue and Sunday magazines.”

The artwork took two months to complete and it was installed at the hotel, in Edgware Road, in August where Caris was on hand to add some hand-finished touches, including old pennies and chicken feathers!

“It is one of the largest projects I have undertaken and it was a lot of fun – I am delighted with the finished murals,” she added.

Born in Wolverhampton, Caris’s work is inspired by theatrical spaces, performers and objects and is created by re-purposing vintage prints and papers, layered and embellished with fabric remnants and recycled items to create opulent multifaceted art works.