It has been common to describe craft’s position as a borderline area between fine art and design. I prefer to call this area an ‘intervening space’ or, to be more precise, the space between function and non-function, tradition and breaking with tradition,...
It's Not Just Black and White There is invisible disability; impairment not immediately apparent but impactful nevertheless. In a practice that is essentially autobiographical, Rachael explores her own experiences of being a former circus performer and climbing...
My work is an exploration of the Welsh landscape and Welsh culture through the form of functional ware. The maps of North and South Wales contain rich information; the South being generally busier and areas in the North much quieter. Using different techniques such as...
The Intimacy of Objects Experience; empiricism, cause behind memory, ignited and recalled through interaction with form and recognition. Objecthood, artefacts as portals to memory, connections to places and relations. Selective, through choice of retaining so to...
Long Instrumental The process of making is as much a part of the final outcome as the physical piece itself. Taking a lowly material such as mud; formless and dissolving, and creating an object able to convey a sense of simplicity and quietude. The vessel is humble,...
The traditions of the potters wheel are used as a starting point; the core elements of function and raw clay are never lost. Yet, the boundaries of its ambition are crossed by pushing form to its limit; the simplicity of glaze not distracting but emphasizing convex...
My work is about expulsion of emotion through the medium of ceramics Sensation Our emollient flesh Surface like skin Delicate Susceptible Scarred
Volcanology These coil and sculptural built forms have a strong alignment with nature embodying mountains, volcanoes, great edifices to behold, with a hint of illustrative prowess adding a simplistic but yet still curiously playful element. The work aims to reach out...
I am a potter who produces handmade vessels on the potter's wheel, expressing the qualities of the stoneware and porcelain clays that I use. Formal forms and patterns are inspired by traditional Korean and Japanese aesthetics, precisely constructed and encouraged to...
There is an importance in death, life is fragile but to celebrate this fragility can be therapeutic and offer a different perspective from which to view the world. My work is organic, inspired by fungi and coral creating a sense of growth and at the same time decay,...
Working according to Formalist tradition, the form of these symmetrical profiles is as important as the negative space that surrounds it creating a certain rhythm as the eye moves from piece, to space, to piece again. Architectural in their structure, their...
Whilst functional, these tiles also create optical illusion, suggesting space through strategic placement and choice of colour. Their encaustic earthenware surface is left unglazed or to achieve a water resilience, decorated with a clear glaze and able to decorate and...
This body of work examines the effect of time and movement on our landscape, specifically the evolution of the coastline. Large scale fragmented sculptures are informed by objects collected from the shore; objects altered and shaped by their journey across the sea....
As a potter, the use of materials directly sourced from the landscape informs the ethos of my practice. The pot is used as much as a reminder of the earth's nature as it is a functional vessel. As opposed to buying materials from a shelf, materials such as wood ashes...
Migration The movement of birds when they migrate is expressed in an abstract, narrative and contemporary form. Not exact or literal, but rather "constructed" and "deconstructed" in a two- dimensional and three-dimensional form, exploring different bird species and...
Time, Memory and Residue Ephemerality, a state of flux, memory, and the fragmentation of relationships are concepts rooted in my artistic practice. I explore these ideas by making humble, familiar objects, such as vessels, alongside the ambiguous, small, intricate...
Deconstruction Construction There are those who "do not study objects, but the relations between objects. Thus, they are free to replace some objects by others so long as the relations remain unchanged. Content is irrelevant, they are interested only in form." Henri...
Clear Water, Black Pebbles These 'espressos', from porcelain forged under immense strain which may buckle at any making stage, are designed to float. I saw porcelain's potential to be worked to a thin state in the hills of Jingdezhen, experiencing there the wonders of...
Within Skin During my exploration into perception of space, I have examined certain psychoanalytical theories that attempt to account for the effect of art on our unconscious, in particular the possibility of art transforming familiar, fixed knowledge of our bodies....
I am a ceramicist with a passion for exploring the interplay between disciplines, surface and form. I consider myself as much a 2D as a 3D artist and my work has become an opportunity for exploring the relationships between object, drawing and painting and the ceramic...
Sensitive The aim of my work is to strike an emotive response in a viewer, to evoke empathy and embroil them within an unravelling tale. This approach has roots in participatory practice and seeks to draw an onlooker in, encouraging them to complete the story for...
Sigmund and Sinfjotli Storytelling is a timeless method of learning, once relied upon in a world before we became so controlled and overseen. My work interprets primitive narratives taken from these cultural mythologies. But rather than read or listen to the evolution...
The process of making the work in this exhibition mimics the activity of experiencing its properties. Each stage of development takes manipulation and exploration of materials. From this exploration the pieces change and develop into interesting shapes and forms,...
Machine for Eating My passion for ceramics has been influenced by my previous experiences in studying mass-produced social housing in civil engineering and architecture in my native France. I use techniques common in mass production to explore the relationship between...
To See the World in a Grain of Sand In the natural world we are surrounded by repetition of pattern and form. From the tiny spiral on a snail shell to the vast galaxy nebulas, these patterns self-reference and echo. Although nature contains certain chaos and...
Journey My work explores the creation of Chinese ceramics and the appropriation of traditional skills into Western contemporary aesthetics. Searching for resources from traditional culture and using them as a mirror to advance and to continue the current culture is an...
Drawing inspiration from graph readings of seismic events, I utilise the physicality and structure of the thrown vessel and construct forms with composite juxtapositional surface qualities to present the notion of ecological fragility. My work portrays the notion of...
A Study of the Teapot Through deconstructing and reconstructing key characteristics used to create what we know to be a crafted teapot, my aim is to explore what makes this traditional pottery object, definable as such. I have had an unshakable interest in...
The aim behind my practice is to affect mood and temperament through use of lighting specifically, bringing the organic and fluid into architectural spaces to create contemplative and calming settings. I aim to challenge perception of lighting design and consider it...
I start my creative journey by identifying outlines of shapes and forms within my surroundings. I have a growing interest in the impact an object can have in a particular space in relation to our mind and body. This has inevitably led to questioning the definition of...
Composition 2 By placing familiar domestic items, like the dinner set, in various contexts the viewer is made aware of subsequent changes in its interpretation. Questions concerning the value and significance of the ceramic object are raised, offering a discourse...
Ceramic art is so much about processes and materiality. I look to traditional processes but combine them with industrial and contemporary tools to update my work. This body of ceramic forms evolved from an investigation into the traditional vessel and industrial...
The body of work I present for the Degree Show is an exploration of material and theoretical constructs, and a statement on global conservation from a socio-political standpoint. Drawing inspiration from graph readings of seismic events and traditional pottery...
The development of microorganisms over 98 days.
Geometry is the visual study of spatial forms, shapes, sizes, positions and patterns. It is the branch of mathematics concerning the relationships, measurements and properties of points, angles, lines, surfaces and solids. It defines the world around us and everything...
Telling a Narrative My work explores the rich collections of myths and legends, some well known narratives that have engaged our imagination for centuries. I alter the story, to be seen from the standpoint of the animal, making them the victim and not us. Myths have...
"Of what use was it to be loved and lose one's beauty and become Real if it all ended like this?"" - Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit The capturing of images through photography is a major theme running through my work, how we use images to construct and...
Reconciliation Where Isaac Newton, along with many Renaissance scientists, spent countless hours attempting to turn base elements into elusive precious metals with no success, the modern ceramicist has the power to do this, through an understanding of essential...
Yours Truly Artist statement I create work based on the idea of being human; not only forms but emotive and functioning. As human beings we can never understand ourselves completely, which creates a certain dichotomy, if we do not understand completely how we feel and...
The Honest Attention I centre the basis of this idea around the ideas of abstract expressionism. The vessel is the vehichle I choose to work with, to explore space and time and these objects act as a carrier for self expression. My approach to throwing is intuitive...
Human Beauty I work with classical narratives to create wearable ceramics, thus connecting to the wearer and drawing them into the story and focus. I am passionate about using my work as a vessel to draw a little bit of fantasy from my classical inspirations and into...
My work attempts to address, not our relationship to the earth, but the earths relationship to ourselves using a variety of clays dug from around cardiff to illustrate the variety, but underlying commonality of humanity and the transient experience of being human,...
The Process Object Oriented Ontology, the idea of an object having an effect on the human mind and being able to recollect thoughts and feelings is very interesting when working with found artefacts. This interaction is of great importance to my work, not just by...
The proposition that we are defined by our abilities is brought into question in relation to my practice, highlighting the possibility that it is not our abilities but our choices that define us as creators. My work explores the restrictions that occur in both 2D and...
I employ traditional pottery techniques to create contemporary work that explores formal values, through the medium of tableware. Formal values are explored in both 2D and 3D formats using relatively minimal abstract mark making, these are then appropriated for...
Exhibiting aesthetic sensibilities which are experienced from visual representation created within an object and the displaying of contradictions between the real and unreal is central to my work. This visual language of past and present creates a 'tipping point'...
A Fleeting Moment Jessica grew up in Bridgend, a town surrounded by the rural valleys. She takes inspiration from her local landscape, pairing this with the rich indulgent style of Victorian and Edwardian decoration to create delicate, and embellished pieces. Jessica...
Organic Matter Abigail has always been intrigued with surface textures. Due to being deaf, her other senses have been heightened especially touch. Ever since she took up macro photography she tended to observe life more and look at a scene in greater detail. Due to...
The Beauty of Unspoken Gesture 'The philosopher's gaze is drawn to what is most invisible and practices what is unseen. It is not about the walls that contain; it's about what is played out inside and outside'. - Chinese philosopher, Laozi. Claire's inspiration comes...