"Julia Watches"

This original papercut is composed from four pages of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four.

The eye appears often in the visual language surrounding Orwell’s novel — usually as a symbol of surveillance and control. Here it takes on a different meaning.

The eye is Julia’s.

Rather than watching on behalf of the Party, it marks the moment she notices Winston. For me, 1984 has always read as a tragic love story as much as a political warning. The pages used in the work reflect this: the passage in which Julia and Winston first speak, and the page describing their first night together.

The book pages have been hand cut and stitched onto a giclée printed background. This allows sections of the artwork to lift subtly from the surface, creating depth, shadow, and movement across the page.

The finished work is presented in a hand-finished box frame with a 20mm gap between the artwork and the glass, allowing the cut paper to sit slightly forward within the frame.

Hand cut from four pages of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four.

This work is the only hand-cut instance of the composition, made directly from a specific page of the text.

A small studio edition may be developed from this work at a later date, derived from the original and produced through a separate, fixed process.

Framed artwork is 295mm x 440mm in size

Presented in a hand-finished white wooden box frame with UV glass.

Each hand cut original is framed to order.
Please allow up to 10 days for dispatch.