Jessica Heywood’s is a Sheffield based artist working predominately in drawing and textiles. Her practice often explores the ideas of abjection, women’s work and labour in a domestic context.

In her most recent series “The Heartless Hurt Less”, Heywood’s focuses on abjection. Looking at the boundary between life and death, observing the beauty and fragility of our everyday natural environments. Heywood captures their bodies in considered and meticulous detail, honouring the found deceased creatures by providing them with an identity which otherwise would be ignored or forgotten.

Labour intensive methods of creating provides Heywood with on-going influence of what defines and separates Fine Art from Craft. As women’s art is rooted in a long history of traditional craft practices but was denied the title of ‘Art’, Heywood continues to further explore how gender is intrinsically linked to craft. Heywood aims to elevate the mediums of ‘domestic art’ of crotchet, needlework, embroidery and weaving to ‘fine art’.