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
MARK
MAKING
This curated collection, part of our online Winter Exhibition 23/24, brings together the expressive and intuitive as well as the considered and detailed marks of the artists and their material.
Marea Hildebrand (aka Studio_MAH) is particularly interested in creating tactile surfaces that remind of textile or wood carving techniques. Her forms with their slim foots and sweeping bellies and their imperfections have a comforting and yet rough presence in the space.
When Tanisha Raj first experienced Printmaking almost 12 years ago, she quickly realised that she was more inspired by the wood as her canvas, rather than the printing process. Introducing Sumi Ink and Acrylic to the MDF opened up a new door:
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"I wanted one of my pieces to be related to printmaking, but at the same time I didn’t enjoy the printing stage. It always hurt to roll ink all over my woodcut and “ruin” the work. And honestly, I wasn’t very good at layering colours and creating more complex prints.
When researching ideas I came across a video of an artist that would paint his wood in sumi ink first so he could better visualise his final print and the detail he needed to carve. I found this interesting as it was a way for me to create something that looked like a print while retaining the wood I loved so much. Essentially, the printmaking process in reverse. Over the years, I began to add colour with paint and my style evolved."
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"I work with automatic drawing as a method to channel the symbolisms that I use to manifest my vision. Moved by personal experiences, the occultism, dreams, and desires I cover large pieces of paper with uncontrolled-controlled strokes using soft chalk pastels and my fingers to produce a gestural imprint that is very present in my ceramic paintings too."
"Inspired by ancient art pieces, I build vessels that function as a sort of caverns that house their own messages, the legends inscribed in them result in a universal and primitive language that can only be figured out by the observer.
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Julieta Feresin
"I build these vessels with the coil and pinch method then the walls are thinned and strengthened with a paddle. I like the slowness of this process and the resulting pots have great character, they are often imperfect, with marks and scores from my hands and the tools that have made them. Layering materials or working with matte surfaces and oxide decoration, this body of work is somewhat experimental, upon opening the kiln I am often surprised. All my work is fired to mid-stoneware temperatures in an oxidised environment, some of the more detailed surfaces have been achieved with multiple glaze firings."
Robyn Cove
"I take great pleasure in the volatility of ceramics and how the alchemy of the kiln produces seemingly magic results from fleeting actions."
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Linda Lencovic
Katie Moore paints her clay surfaces with underglazes and slips. Her designs are inspired by theatre sets and her natural surroundings. Decorating her objects she describes as an ongoing experiment.
Her 'Summer Wobble' collection is inspired by her summer sketchbooks travelling in various parts of the UK.
"Drawing with clay, painting with fire. My work is process led and based in material practice. I am interested in the extremes of the materials I work with: clay and fire. I aim for the essential qualities of plastic clay and extreme heat of the kiln to remain visible in the finished piece. I use atmospheric firings with organic materials to provide surface narrative."
Imogen Noble
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"My work is about the clay; its pliable, immediate qualities. Like a photograph capturing a ‘frozen moment’ this material when fired fixes forever a gesture, an impression. All my work is hand built and solid; the marks are created by impressing found objects, their origins occasionally hinted at. I cut, squeeze, pinch and hit the clay body to achieve the desired form."
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Rachel Grimshaw
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The bodies of these birds are made from recycled fabric eco-printed with wood shavings from oak trees, uprooted by storms or other natural causes. In the patterns that are transferred to the cloth through the sap and tannins in the wood the residual essence of the life-force of the tree lingers, holding the memory of the vitality of the tree."
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Katja Abbott