Portfolio
Portfolio
Jars
My work uses a single pure jar form as a canvas to map my observations from an ongoing study of my surroundings. I incorporate stone and locally dug clay into my work to create a narrative, one that conveys a unique sense of place. More…
Earth to Earth
In this piece a raw, unfired Jar, made from a blend of local clays was placed at the top of Carn Treliwyd to weather away.More…
A clay journey
This is a project about how we move through the landscape and what we pick up along the way. More…
Votive Jars
Part of my work is about an exploration of our relationship to nature and the land. I have therefore made a series of tiny Jars about 15mm high to deposit in the landscape at places that I draw on for my work. More…
Accolades and Secrets
I have endeavoured to represent beauty, simplicity and hope with a pure white jar. That form and what it represents is still present beneath the potentially destructive path to achieving what we desire. This compulsion has driven humanity to its greatest accolades and its darkest secrets. More…
Artists Statement
My work uses a single pure jar form as a canvas to map my observations from an ongoing study of my surroundings. I incorporate stone and locally dug clay into my work to create a narrative, one that conveys a unique sense of place. The unpredictable nature of each jar comes from the inclusions and their metamorphosis during firing. This individuality and tension between materials speaks of the human condition and how the landscape shapes us as individuals.
Landscapes have inspired artists for generations but for me a landscape has to be felt. To depict it is always going to fall short. I was inspired by archaeological theories that the Menhirs of prehistory are a veneration of the landscapes that surrounds them. With my site-specific work I too am venerating the landscape. By placing a Jar at a particular location within the landscape I hope that it will make us look beyond the object to its surroundings.
My work is also about change, about natural cycles and the transience of human endeavor. Part of my ‘Earth to Earth’ project is to illustrate one cycle as a metaphor for all. I placed a raw, unfired Jar at the top of Carn Treliwyd in Pembrokeshire. Made from the earth; the wind and rain will return it back to the earth. Clay in turn is created from the weathering of igneous rocks upon which this unfired Jar stands.
Paths are a motif I use to represent my actual and metaphoric journeys through a place. To understand a landscape is to move through it, to give it context. Paths are like common routes of experience, guiding us through the landscape. They are connections through time, to others and to the land. Ultimately my work is about being present within a landscape.
CV
Education
2004-2006 Crafts Council of Ireland Ceramics Design and Skills Course
2002-2003 West Wales School of Art, Carmarthen
1998-2001 BA (joint hons.) Archaeology and Anthropology, Lampeter University
Solo Exhibitions
2012 Dewisland, Tenby Museum and Art Galllery, Tenby
2009 Elemental Jars, Oriel Joanna Fields Gallery, Milford Haven.
Selected Mixed Exhibition
2012
Artists in Residence, Oriel Y Parc, St.davids
Earth, Ruthin Craft Centre
Modern Masters, Handwerkskammer für München und Oberbayern
Munich, Germany
2011
Figure in the Landscape, The Discovery Centre, Winchester
Insight into Beauty II, Embassy of Japan, London
Close to Nature, New Brewery Arts, Cirencester.
2010
Little and Large, Contemporary Ceramics, London
Welsh Artist of the Year Exhibition, St.Davids Hall, Cardiff
Sarah Myerscough Fine Art, Mayfair, London
RBSA, Birmingham
Garden Gallery, Hampshire
New Craftsman, St.Ives
2009
Roger Billcliffe Gallery, Glasgow
20:10, Ruthin Craft Center
2006
National Craft Gallery of Ireland, Kilkenny
Fairs
2012
Ceramic Art London, RCA, London
2011
Ceramic Art London, RCA, London
Bloomsbury Art Fair, London
Contemporary Craft Fair, Bovey Tracey, Devon
2010
Ceramic Art London, RCA, London
2009
Origin: The London Craft Fair. Somerset House, London
2009-2011
Art in Clay, Hatfield
Showcases
2010
Gallery Nine, Bath
Craft and Design Centre, Leeds
National Museum, Cardiff
2009
Mission Gallery, Swansea
Aberystwyth Arts Centre
2008
Harlequin Gallery, London
The Albany Gallery, Cardiff
Collections
2012
National Museum Cardiff
Awards
2011
Arts Council of Wales research grant
2010
Invited Professional Member of the Craft Potters Association
2009
Arts Council of Wales project grant to exhibit at Origin
Publication
2011
Ceramics in Wales, Ceramic Art and Perception: Issue 85
Creative Edge, Garden Design Journal: Issue 107
2010
Glaze of Glory, Financial Times: How To Spend It. Christmas edition
Bloomfield, Linda. Advanced Pottery. Robert Hale Ltd.
2009
Searching for perfection, Ceramic Review: Issue 240
2009
Advertising campaign for Origin