Beyond The Wheel
Unique
Hand Built
Ceramic Sculptures
Creating ceramics is like practicing alchemy. You take a sticky material dug from a seam in the ground and transform it into something concrete and tactile - something permanent. So permanent in fact it can survive for centuries. Hold a fired piece in the hand and you are touching the maker’s exact marks, creating a dialogue between artist and viewer no matter how long ago that ceramic piece was made.
It is said the body is always implied in ceramics, from ergonomic design through to the physical efforts of the maker. Likewise, there is an organic, often anthropomorphic, feel to my hand built work. Methods such as coiling, pinching, or slab building are employed and through experimentation I allow space for invention. My main aim is to create a sense of movement. Layers of decoration are applied at all stages of the making process, be it in slip, engobe, underglaze, or glaze form. Each piece is subsequently fired several times until the desired effect is achieved. Only then does my work finally feel complete.
Some consideration should be given to the ceramic’s role as functional object opposed to the purely aesthetic qualities of sculpture. It can, of course, have both values. Indeed, today’s highly revered ceramic from the past was quite often a functional piece itself once. However, I approach the subject from a Fine Art perspective with a particular fondness for sculpture.
It is said the body is always implied in ceramics, from ergonomic design through to the physical efforts of the maker. Likewise, there is an organic, often anthropomorphic, feel to my hand built work. Methods such as coiling, pinching, or slab building are employed and through experimentation I allow space for invention. My main aim is to create a sense of movement. Layers of decoration are applied at all stages of the making process, be it in slip, engobe, underglaze, or glaze form. Each piece is subsequently fired several times until the desired effect is achieved. Only then does my work finally feel complete.
Some consideration should be given to the ceramic’s role as functional object opposed to the purely aesthetic qualities of sculpture. It can, of course, have both values. Indeed, today’s highly revered ceramic from the past was quite often a functional piece itself once. However, I approach the subject from a Fine Art perspective with a particular fondness for sculpture.
