An exhibition featuring the work of six UK and international ceramicists who explore the possibilities of working with porcelain, a medium that I deem as to be the jewel material of clay.
You are invited to understand, through the artists’ work, the unique qualities of porcelain, as it is strong yet delicate and translucent enough for colours, used in conjunction, to be bright and fully shine.
Tanya Gomez (whose work is shown) is a celebrated ceramist, renown for her porcelain vessels in her signature lustrous colours. The pieces emphasise these fundamental aspects of our life and draw our awareness to our relationship with them.
Sally Garrett is interested in the relationship between dancer and artist. Porcelain paper clay is the chosen material to recreate the dancer’s shoe. Applying hand to materials, each piece is softly moulded over a worn ballet shoe and then assembled, like the sewing of a garment.
At the heart of Karen Downing’s hand thrown porcelain is the coastal landscape of her childhood home. The use of one material, a single glaze, a deliberately restricted vocabulary of form and the process of repetition throwing combine to create both unity and diversity in her work.
Carys Davies throws porcelain pots on the wheel. The clay has a personality of its own, sometimes cooperative, sometimes not, and will go its own way as it fires too. She likes to have smooth, shiny glazes inside, and rough, organic ones outside; like a shell of an oyster perhaps.
Su Jameson’s hand built ceramic sculptures strive to create exchanges, both physical and emotional. Stoneware clays are used, at present Grogged Porcelain, with stains and oxides applied to bisque ware to accentuate the residue of marks and develop tonal range.
For Maria ten Kortenaar, porcelain is a medium that allows her to express what she perceives, feels and experiences in everyday life. She mixes colours through her porcelain and builds her objects piece by piece, which is why the patterns are visible inside as well as outside. This technique is called Nerikomi, or inlay technique.
“Works produced in porcelain are objects of desire. Porcelain is a decadent material and its often translucent and fine qualities have inspired me to curate this show, I admire the many ceramicists working in this media using many different approaches, especially as porcelain used to be my preferred medium at the beginning of my career as an artist,” explains Kellie.
There will also be works on show in painting, sculpture and ceramic stoneware from Kellie’s stable of artists.
View Objects of Desire at 20 Market Street until Monday 27th May 2019.
Website: http://www.kelliemillerarts.com
Phone: 01273 329384
Opening Times: April to December Monday to Saturday 11-6, Sunday 11-5.
