Judy Woodborne is a printmaker and painter based in Cape Town, South Africa. Born in Cape Town 1966. She obtained her B.A.F.A from Michaelis School of Fine Art in 1988 and an advanced Diploma in Printmaking awarded with Distinction in 1989. She was awarded her Masters of Fine Arts Degree with Distinction from the University of Cape Town (UCT) in 1993 with a dissertation entitled, Moria, a Eulogy of Folly.

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She was the resident artist and administrator of Hard Ground Printmakers Workshop from 1993 until its closure in 2005. She currently runs her own studio, sharing premises with two other resident artists, Julia Teale and Paul Burchill, forming the Spencer Street Studio in Salt River, Cape Town. She specialized in the technique of copperplate etching and has equipped her etching studio not only to produce her own works but to teach the tradition of etching techniques.

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She has travelled and visited many printmaking workshops in the United Kingdom (UK), France, Germany and Austria and has travelled as far south as Tierra del Fuego and the Antarctic Peninsula, surviving Drake's Passage in the process.

 

Woodborne has spent some time working in various printmaking workshops such as the Grafische Werkstatt im Traklhaus, as well as taking part in collaborative printmaking portfolios with artist/curator Jan Jordaan, working on the "Break the Silence" HIV Campaign, as well as the Art for Humanity, Woman Artists supporting Children’s Rights Campaign. Other projects include the Playing Card Portfolio curated by Veerle Rooms, Belgium in collaboration with the Playing Card Museum, Kasterlee, the "Body Politic" portfolio of colour etchings produced in collaboration with Prof. Teresa Cole, Tulane University, USA. She curated and published a portfolio of 16 etchings, "Exquisite Corpse", based on the theme of Adam and Eve, in collaboration with 7 participating artists. The portfolio was sponsored by Sanlam, and selected for the Klein Karoo Kunsfees in 2009. Her main inspiration comes from various trips she has undertaken around the world. Travelling to Hong Kong, the south of China and Zanzibar have inspired her recent works: The Elements, a series of paintings representing earth, air, fire and water. 

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The ties that bind” is the title of this large format paper construction.

The work represents the alchemical marriage of opposites – the female figure with a miniature moon as a head, flanked by a male represented by a winged heart and a sun as a head. In traditional engravings of the “Alchemical Wedding”, the Red King represents masculine elements while the White Queen represents feminine and they stand on a sun and moon respectively. 

This print took 21 years to complete and utilised over 9 different techniques. 

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