The Weight of Uncertainty
Part Two
On January 4th a third national lockdown was announced and I returned to my previous project The Weight of Uncertainty.
This new work in progress is Part 2.
Once again I am using 1 oz of clay as the weight for each thrown vessel and I am making one for every day of this lockdown.
The accumulating vessels represent the passing days and the weight of uncertainty felt within them. So far I have only used dark clay.
Projects and Process
The Shop Floor Project
Work in progress for a special collection.
To launch in April 2022.
Creating a collection of Tea cups and Saucers for Fortnum and Mason
At the end of 2022 I spent time working with Fortnum and Mason to create a special collection for their 2023 Spring event called Fortnum and Makers.
The first floor of the Piccadilly store hosts a range of work by independent designers and makers that will be there from February 2023 for a few months.
The process started with sketches and ideas for shapes and colours. I made a lot of saucers to try and get the size just right in relation to the cup. The cup needed to be big enough for tea but not so big that I couldn’t create from it a feeling of something to treasure, a special piece that wasn’t just a mug.
In the end we decided to only use a deep cobalt blue on the body of the cup and in the centre of the saucers. This in combination with matte black handles to counter balance the gloss of the blue and some gold detail where the handle meets the cup. Each one is different.
These images show something of the order of making from sketches, wheel thrown and unfired cups and saucers, painted and biscuit fired and finally glazed and finished. There are four different designs. All the pieces will have had three firings before they are ready to be packed up and delivered.
The Shop Floor Project
'Spring Tides, Hidden Treasures'
It is an honour to be commissioned to make new work for TSFP.
I'm so grateful for their continued support and interest in my work and to be invited to join their eclectic group of designers, makers and traditional manufacturers.
My contribution to the exhibition launches in the Spring alongside works by a curated group of artists. I have been creating domed dishes and lidded pots that incorporate found objects and recent finds from the Thames foreshore.
The Merchant's Table
'Past and Present Plates'
October 2020
This collection is part of an ongoing collaboration with Susanna at TMT. I have been lucky enough to be supported and exhibited by Susanna who is inspirational in her artistic scope and tireless support of British makers and artists.
This new collection of commissioned plates has evolved from conversations with Susanna about our shared interest in found objects, memory and historical reference, a love of collecting and my particular obsession with searching for ‘treasure’ on the Thames foreshore.
The ceramic fragments that I have embedded in these plate rims were mostly found in Suffolk and London. These are the broken bowls, cups, and plates from centuries past reimagined for a 20th Century table.
Fortnum and Mason:
'For the Love of Making'
February 2020
This specially commissioned collection celebrates Valentine's Day through an exhibition of work by a small selection of designer makers, displayed on the first floor of Fortnums for the month of February 2020.
I created work themed with images of tulips, birds and ferns on plates, jugs, cups, and small treasure bowls with accents of gold and stamped detail.
The Weight of Uncertainty
Part 1
After the lockdown directive on March 24rd I was struck by a phrase I heard describing “the weight of uncertainty”. I decided to translate this expression into a clay weight of 1 oz per day. 7oz in 7 days. I made a vessel everyday describing any feelings or information relevant to that day. I also wrote the date on the base of each piece.
The accumulated uncertainty over the ensuing 103 days of official lockdown are visually represented in this collection of vessels. They are all the same weight, are around 3-5 cm high and made of white and black earthenware clay. The darker clay reflecting days of darker mood. I stopped making them on July 4th when so many of the lockdown measures were lifted.
Creating Tea Bowls and Saucers for The Shop Floor Project:
Launching December 2022
I have been working collaboratively with TSFP around the themes of cups and drinking. This has been for a new exhibition called A Cupful of Craft 2022, their second exhibition on this subject, working with individual designers and makers.
We were inspired by a lovely Worcester tea bowl and saucer (shown here) and began exploring with sketches, historical references and pieces that I made and decorated, considered, discarded and remade until we agreed on the final idea. A simple matte velum glazed tea bowl and saucer. The 'treasure' is revealed when you lift the bowl. A small ceramic sherd found on the Thames foreshore and embedded into the centre of the saucer, touched with gold lustre. Something precious hidden and then found.
Contemporary Practice:
I have just completed an amazing year of learning at The City Lit adult education college in central London. I joined 12 other artists one day a week to work on our own specific projects with the guidance of three fantastic tutors and an emphasis on expanding our practice with a contemporary focus. My project theme was around memory and layered meaning. That which is hidden, obscured and revealed. It stemmed from looking at my own childhood diaries, my schooling and emotional landscape.
During the course I have been experimenting with clay, paper, cloth and printing. Printing with clay, paint , pen, ink and writing into plaster. I have used that plaster to print onto clay. All the words are backwards. They hold meaning but it cannot be deciphered. Ive been using large pieces of paper, writing and printing onto them, washing them, writing again, washing , printing, washing and then folding them as tightly as possible to squeeze them into an undersized clay fired box. I’ve being exploring with the resulting sense of force and constraint, of controlled spilling out and the edges that are visible above the volume of words folded beneath.
In terms of the project I have extended my interest in the emotional resonance of objects and in collecting, I have used repetition, display, order, assembling, installation, grouping and visual continuity. I like to shuffle objects around in spaces until they make sense. The arrangement becomes as important as the making . An arrangement of the thoughts as well as the work.
The year ended with a group exhibition in an empty house in North London. I have included here some images from the past year of archiving and making. There is a continuous thread of the initial theme running through the layering and folding and containing. It was a year of exploration that extended my work away from clay but also encouraged me to think of new ways to include it into an expanded artistic expression.
The group of us that took the course are continuing to work together as a Collective @dep_art_ures (instagram) and are already planning future exhibitions. Watch this space!
Film by Susannah Goulding
Personal Project
Black Clay and Black Wax:
Collecting and Repetition
I’m working on a new project in this second half of 2023 that focuses on the themes of collecting and arrangement. I’m thinking about layering and meaning both in the context of the pieces themselves but also in terms of thoughts and memory. While much can remain hidden the content remains but is contained or concealed.
I’ve been experimenting with black clay … some is fired once but unglazed, some glazed and some waxed. I’ve used a black wax which gives a deep matte finish that feels and looks a bit like polished wood. I’m using the black in combination with the white clay with a matte glaze that I use more frequently.
These pictures give some idea of the experiments so far. I’m working towards a large group installation that will sit together in conversation.