A L I S O N W E S T
C U R R E N T W O R K

K I R S T Y A D A M S
Kirsty Adam’s work is both functional and holds aesthetic meaning, retaining the spontaneity and delicacy intrinsic to making on the potters’ wheel. A Japanese comb tool is used to create and enhance the throwing lines. Her Icelandic collection is the culmination of a research trip to Iceland to express the ‘otherworldliness’ of the landscape.
Kirsty is an award-winning ceramicist currently working from her studio in Newcastle upon Tyne. She originally trained at Brighton Art College and then on the potters’ wheel in Japan. She has developed a personal approach to throwing on the wheel using porcelain clay, to produce unique pieces for the home.
Exhibitions and Events
Being Human
6th March - 19th April 2020
C U R R E N T W O R K

Gessica Carbone
London, UK
"The urge is to shape feelings, emotions and impressions perceived, lived, or suffered. Clay is used as an organic and natural 3D representation of these concrete “emotional states” of the human being."
"Each one of the creatures contains a story within itself; a mysterious glance, a sudden happiness, a deep look from the eyes of the medium, to the soul of the observer."
Gessica Carbone is a ceramic artist based in London, she first started to hand-built small creatures representing feelings and emotions during the first lockdown for the Covid pandemic, and since then she has deepened the use of clay to explore her inner world and shared with others everyday experiences and beliefs around ourselves and the way of being in this world. She tries to represent the deep and complicated journey of the unconscious from the Wounds of our Inner Traumas to the Relief of Healing.

'Falling Inside', high-firing clay, margarite glaze, h. 17 x w. 10 x d. 11 cm

Where did your relationship with art begin?
My relationship with art started when I was only a child and tried to explore and construct using different mediums, such as shells, wood carving, drawing, and writing poems. I then pursued different types of studies that took me away from art for a while, although I always wanted to explore the path of art. Whilst growing up, I found that I always had an urge to shape feelings and emotions into something more tangible utilising the few types of art mediums I knew back then.
When did you first work with your clay?
I first started to hand-build small ceramic creatures representing feelings and emotions during the first lockdown of the Covid Pandemic, since then I have prioritised the use of clay to explore my inner world and share with others relatable creations linked to everyday experiences and beliefs around ourselves and our way of being in this world.
What are you thinking about when you start making each piece?
In my work with clay, I try to represent the deep and complicated journey of the unconscious - from the wounds of our inner traumas to the relief of healing. The necessity is to shape feelings, emotions and impressions perceived, lived or suffered. Clay is used as an organic and natural 3D representation of these concrete “emotional states” of the human being. Each creature contains a story within themselves; a mysterious glance, a sudden happiness, a deep look from the eye of the medium, to the soul of the observer.
At times I make a series of similar pieces and positions, other times I feel the need to suspend a piece I am working on if I am beset with the urge to represent different feelings, struggles, or wishes. Part of my job is also influenced by what is happening in the rest of the world. Empathy for others and what they are going through is a big part of the process through clay, and represented in the final result.
Do you plan each piece in advance or do they develop intuitively?
Each lived experience or feeling creates a vivid and representational image in my mind. Sometimes there is an urgency of recreating that image in 3D to solidify the emotion and finish the project, whilst other times I sketch the ideas out and leave them to be reawakened later when they might resonate more with me and the process through which I am living.
