Jenny Clayden trained as a theatre designer and worked for 15 years in
various fringe companies including the Young Vic in London. In the course
of her work she made props such as puppets, masks, and a pantomime horse,
often in papier mâché. When she moved to the Isle of Wight in 1989 she
began experimenting in this medium for her own amusement and found it so
expressive that it has become her main creative interest.
She designs and makes figures of all sizes in papier mâché, from life-size down to thumb-size, and these are character studies rather than cartoon figures. Her ideas come mainly from seeing the funny side of things and having previously worked as a theatre designer, her approach is dramatic and colourful.
Jenny has had solo exhibitions of her work both on the Island and the mainland and has successfully completed many commissions, including two life-size figures for the Island Java project, and a 3ft. model for Jongleurs comedy club, of their logo figure .
After a solo exhibition in 1993/4 titled "Such stuff as dreams are made on" at the Quay Arts Centre, Isle of Wight and Trinity Arts Centre, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, she was invited to exhibit at Havant Arts Centre in 1996 where her solo exhibition was titled "Anything for a Laugh". This exhibition included clowns and comic figures through the ages, from commedia dell'arte and court jesters to life-size pantomime figures, showing the sad side of their lives.
In 1998, Pallant House, Chichester, promoted a solo exhibition in the Garden Gallery. She was requested to produce 3-dimensional pieces inspired by paintings from their permanent collection including "Danseuse No.5" by Gino Severini. That exhibition was titled "A Different View".
Jenny's next solo exhibition, at Quay Arts IOW, was "Let's keep Dancing" in 2000 and the dance music that inspired each piece played continuously throughout. Amongst them were Joyce Grenfell's "Stately as a Galleon", Louis Armstrong's "Takes two to Tango" and a conga. A selection of these went into a Paper exhibition at the Black Swan Gallery near Bath later in the year.
For "Wedding Party" at The Old Bakery near Chichester in March 2001, both the mothers-in-law were wearing identical hats and the bridesmaids were tipsy and in December 2002 Jenny's solo exhibition "Celebrations" at the Alchemist Gallery, Yarmouth, IOW, displayed various characters jumping for joy, turning cartwheels and celebrating at birthday parties, weddings and prizegivings.
A piece of her work, a pair of jazz dancers inspired by William Walton's "Facade Suite", was selected for the 2003 Quay Open summer show and 3 figures were included in Artsway¹s Open in the winter exhibition that year. Her work has also been selected for an open exhibition at Portsmouth Museum and in exhibitions extensively in the south of England.
In the summer of 2005 she joined remarks, a group of artists working in various media, and took part in the exhibition, "Grey Matters" in 2007. This exhibition explored the human condition and ideas on memory, change, impairment and assumptions about age. This was followed by a solo exhibition titled "Identity" in 2006 in the Rope Store which was concerned with how we see ourselves and others see us. Quay Arts also accepted a piece of Jenny's work for the 2008 Open exhibition "Location".
