About Hester
Hester Cox graduated from Harrow School of Art and Design with a BA(Hons) in Illustration in 1994. She lives and works in Masham, North Yorkshire. Working as a printmaker, she designs and makes relief and collagraph plates which are then printed in layers to form one richly coloured and textured limited edition print. Her inspiration is often derived from the natural landscape, the plants and wildlife that inhabit it and the stories, myths and symbolism associated with them. She uses multiple plates and techniques to echo the layers of meaning and metaphor in the images. Whilst not purely illustrational, Hester’s prints have a strong sense of narrative with closer inspection revealing further layers of meaning. Hester’s passion for printmaking has led her to run workshops for children and adults both privately and for ArtisOn Ltd, North Yorkshire County Council, Rural Arts North Yorkshire and the Woodland Trust.
Hester exhibits widely in Yorkshire and the UK and her work has been featured in the magazines Country Living, Artists and Illustrators and Pagan Dawn & by organisations such as Friends of the Earth, RHS Garden Harlow Carr & Bradford City Council. Her working process and ideas have recently been filmed by choreographer and dancer Kathinka Walter. She has used this as the basis for a contemporary dance piece, ‘Gleichzeitig’, which explores layering of imagery and metaphor. This was performed at The Place, London & Yorkshire Dance Centre, Leeds.
In 2010, she was invited to become one of three artists in residence at Nidderdale Museum creating work inspired by the museum’s bird egg collection. Using this as a starting point, she has studied the migrating curlews that fly in from the west coast to lay their eggs in Nidderdale. The resulting prints and supporting drawings went on display in summer 2011. In 2010, she was also chosen by Crysalis Arts to take part in their Extending Practice programme. This has enabled her to work with Jane Sellars, the curator of the Mercer Art Gallery in Harrogate, who mentored her throughout a project based on the Vale of York Viking Hoard, jointly owned by the Yorkshire and British Museums. Her artistic response to this beautiful and important treasure was exhibited alongside the hoard at the Mercer Art Gallery from September 2011 until January 2012.
In 2012, Hester will be taking part in the Connections North Programme when she undertakes a printmaking residency in Sweden. She will also be exhibiting in a joint show called 'Of a Feather' with Pam Grimmond at The Gallery, Masham, in September 2012.
Hester's prints are also available at the following galleries:
The Gallery, Masham
The Craft Centre and Design Gallery, Leeds
The Green Man Gallery, Pickering
The Apple Yard Gallery, Holt
Cambridge Contemporary Arts, Cambridge
The Imagine Gallery, Long Melford
Cuckoo Cuckoo, Hastings
The Mercer Gallery Shop, Harrogate
The Blue Stone Gallery, Devizes
The Alverton Gallery, Penzance
ArtsBank, Saltburn
The Biscuit Factory, Newcastle
The Schoolroom Gallery, Alnmouth
Hester exhibits widely in Yorkshire and the UK and her work has been featured in the magazines Country Living, Artists and Illustrators and Pagan Dawn & by organisations such as Friends of the Earth, RHS Garden Harlow Carr & Bradford City Council. Her working process and ideas have recently been filmed by choreographer and dancer Kathinka Walter. She has used this as the basis for a contemporary dance piece, ‘Gleichzeitig’, which explores layering of imagery and metaphor. This was performed at The Place, London & Yorkshire Dance Centre, Leeds.
In 2010, she was invited to become one of three artists in residence at Nidderdale Museum creating work inspired by the museum’s bird egg collection. Using this as a starting point, she has studied the migrating curlews that fly in from the west coast to lay their eggs in Nidderdale. The resulting prints and supporting drawings went on display in summer 2011. In 2010, she was also chosen by Crysalis Arts to take part in their Extending Practice programme. This has enabled her to work with Jane Sellars, the curator of the Mercer Art Gallery in Harrogate, who mentored her throughout a project based on the Vale of York Viking Hoard, jointly owned by the Yorkshire and British Museums. Her artistic response to this beautiful and important treasure was exhibited alongside the hoard at the Mercer Art Gallery from September 2011 until January 2012.
In 2012, Hester will be taking part in the Connections North Programme when she undertakes a printmaking residency in Sweden. She will also be exhibiting in a joint show called 'Of a Feather' with Pam Grimmond at The Gallery, Masham, in September 2012.
Hester's prints are also available at the following galleries:
The Gallery, Masham
The Craft Centre and Design Gallery, Leeds
The Green Man Gallery, Pickering
The Apple Yard Gallery, Holt
Cambridge Contemporary Arts, Cambridge
The Imagine Gallery, Long Melford
Cuckoo Cuckoo, Hastings
The Mercer Gallery Shop, Harrogate
The Blue Stone Gallery, Devizes
The Alverton Gallery, Penzance
ArtsBank, Saltburn
The Biscuit Factory, Newcastle
The Schoolroom Gallery, Alnmouth