Statement

687 Words

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As a visual, conceptual, and installation artist, I crafted 691 non-vitrified grogged porcelain vessels for the Interim Exhibition (March 2025), symbolising the number of completed monthly cycles of my life. Unlike its fired counterpart, non-vitrified clay can be reclaimed and reused in future projects. This approach reduces the need to mine raw materials, minimises expenses and energy required to fire work, and aligns with the sustainability values championed by the University. 

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Each vessel was wheel-thrown, practising the skills I developed during the Production Pottery course, the first of seven week-long modules for the “Leach Year” programme at the Leach Pottery in St Ives, Cornwall - (The Leach Year: For Intermediate potters 2025)[1].   

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Once dried and assembled on the studio floor, the vessels resembled a miniature reinterpretation of Antony Gormley’s “Field” (1991), a Turner Prize-winning work. Gormley, noted for using the human form in site-specific installations, created this work using thousands of handmade clay figures.  The Tate Gallery observes: 

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“Field acts as an 'invasion' or 'infection', and the sensation is that of a tide; an endless mass that has become temporarily limited by the architecture of the place where it is installed,…”(ANTONY GORMLEY: FIELD 2025)[2]

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My installation similarly produced an optical illusion of movement. The arrangement of the spiral pattern, which includes the smallest vessels at the centre, is graduated in size towards the larger pots placed at the outer edge, thereby emphasising the continuation and passage of time.  

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As the Degree Show approaches, my work has focused on the impact of Western cultural, societal, and political signifiers, stripping them away to identify and analyse their necessity. The title “Cyclical” not only refers to the repetitive shapes but also the temporal qualities of unfired clay, and it resonates with elements of Cornelia Parker’s ‘Cold Dark Matter: An Exploded View’ (1991) (Blazwick 2013)[3]. In this work, the British Army detonated a shed, and Parker suspended the debris, recreating the point of the explosion. Her work often emerges from trauma she has suffered or that she inflicts onto objects; she translates this destructive nature into an artistic representation.   

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Edmund de Waal’s (Waal 2022) [4] porcelain vessels are also influential in my practice. While these pieces are small and delicate, limiting their function, the forms are slender, and the openings are deliberately narrow and restrictive. He emphasises repetition and the placement of ceramics; the relationships between articles simulate an uneasy calmness, an aesthetic I am attempting to emulate in my current work. 

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As the final semester of my Bachelor of Arts finishes, I recognise my role in this extensive history and my responsibilities as a custodian of skills and knowledge. I endeavour to contribute to this community, continuously seek opportunities to improve my skills, and create ceramic pieces for exhibitions and sales. 

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As one of the inaugural students on “The Leach Year,”(2025) at the Leach Pottery in Bernard Leach’s studio, run from January to December, covering seven modules including improving throwing skills, upscaling the size of the vessels and technical knowledge on clay and glazes.  As a potter and teacher, Bernard Leach promoted studio pottery over mass industrial production, fostering a tradition that values craftsmanship, learning, and community. His ethos remains as relevant today as it was 105 years ago when he opened the studio.

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Recent highlights have included visiting The White Cube, London, and Theaster Gates’ exhibition, 1965—Malcolm in the Winter, a floor-to-ceiling display of ceramic vessels. I attended a “Printing on Ceramics” course at the V&A, London, and became a member of the London Potter Association. I’ve attended external lectures by Richard Miller, Mella Shaw, and Wayne Clark at Dacorum and Chiltern Potters Guild and Farnham UCA.  

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I am now a permanent employee at Bluematchbox Ltd, a local pottery supplier, where I work with clay, kilns, and a vibrant network of makers.  

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I will find any excuse to get my hands in clay!

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[1] Leach Year Programme

[2] Antony Gormley’s Field, 1991.      

[3] Cornelia Parker Cold Dark Matter: An Exploded View (1991) & Blazwick’s publication 2013

[4] YouTube Channel - @Southbank interviewed Edmund De Waal for the Hayward Gallery Exhibition “Strange Clay”  (2022)

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Links 

https://www.leachpottery.com/

https://www.bluematchbox.co.uk/

https://www.whitecube.com/gallery-exhibitions/theaster-gates-bermondsey-2025

https://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/ceramics

https://dcpg.org.uk/

https://www.uca.ac.uk/

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