Artist's Statement
I have a fascination with ancient things that stems from my childhood. I was brought up in the Devonshire countryside, surrounded by a softly folded landscape, abundant and bountiful flora, veteran trees, blunted cob farmhouses with thatched roofs and farmers who spoke using old words in strong local dialect. The house I was brought up in was filled with antiques and home made things and from an early age I learned to recognize the importance and worth of unconventional or peculiar qualities embedded in an object.
One of the first significant things I made from clay was when I was in my early twenties. It was a small figure which I have displayed in my home. It has an ancient goddess-like quality that still moves me today. My continuing curiosity and appreciation of figurative art has formed the framework and context within which I now situate my work.
I am interested in manipulating and challenging assumptions that may be made by the viewer
Inspirational material includes the male pin up, mythological stories from around the world, medieval painting, European folk art, Egyptian relief work, Staffordshire flatbacks and the tree and its symbolic references.
The objects I make invariably have an emotional starting point. They are also concerned with narrative. My work is domestic in scale; it is designed with a display place in mind: the mantel piece or shelf in the home. I make objects that are intended to fit in to the household environment, yet not too comfortably.
My work exploits the traditional practice and purpose of displaying figurines and ornaments in the home, in order to convey ideas, religious beliefs, political viewpoints, worldly wisdom etc. Using this scale, relaxed domestic convention and the visual language of signs, metaphors and messages, it is possible to quietly yet arrestingly subvert the viewer’s expectation... By using familiar imagery and working in a folk art style, the idea of incorporating an outrageous subtext which goes at first un-noticed, appeals to my sense of humor and mischief.
A central investigation has been the image of the tree. It holds resonance and power and is symbolic in cultures around the world. Trees attract mythopoetic imagination and I have adopted this ancient symbol as a vehicle for ideas in my work.
There is a distinct arboreal figurative language; there is the trunk and the limbs of a tree. Human beings and trees are natural partners and united, can grow challenging and provocative metaphors and narratives.
I represent the trees in my work as stylized and bare. Exposed and stripped of any identifying foliage or bark, they become just a tree, any tree. Unencumbered by the weight of specific variety, the significance and meaning imbued in our culture to certain species of tree is discarded, thus broadening the opportunity for individual interpretation.
My work sometimes quotes a specific story that has a contemporary and at times what might be considered to be a contemptible deviation to it.
The figures are simple, alluding to medieval visual flatness, distorted perspective and lack of foreshortening; the making process using slabs is exposed, there are seams and obvious joins. They often have a childlike quality to them that is in direct conflict with what may be a complex adult narrative.
The language of ceramics itself offers qualities that appeal to me each with their own meaning. I use red earthenware, cheap, honest, unpretentious and informal and add paper and coarse grog. I like the shortness it gives the clay, like pastry, and the lumpiness, uneven texture and imperfections seem appropriate. Naked, this clay body is recognized and familiar: flower pots, bricks, kitchen crockery and antiquity may spring to mind, there is a certain comfort zone surrounding it, clothed with grubby white slip that cracks and crazes like old sun-baked paint, there is a depth and porous warmth to the work that invites touch.
The use of oxide washes articulates the figurative forms, reveals the detail and blemishes and imparts something akin to drawing to the piece. I often use gold and other lustres in small amounts; visually this draws attention to certain details as key elements, but it also draws attention away from certain strategic components, which is all part of orchestrating the element of surprise. There are mythological and decorative connotations that can be evoked through the use of lusters. Those associations with value and opulence connected with precious metals can be useful signifying tools in the deciphering of a piece but they also present a ‘golden’ opportunity for subversion.
You can also access my Curriculum Vitae