Last weekend wrapped up Ceramic Art London, an art fair that showcased contemporary studio ceramics at the Royal College of Art. The fair presented works from more than 80 artists from across the world.
Above image: Chris Keenan, Celadon and tenmoku double-bashed bud pots, 2014, 12.5 cm height. The artist states: There are few places that offer me greater satisfaction than being at the wheel, throwing or turning. My work and knowledge of clay occupy a fairly narrow band of the extremely broad ceramic spectrum but that band does go deep. I have only ever used porcelain and, for the most part, only two glazes. I largely make work in small batches and for these, repetition is key. However, the word “repetition” belies the reality that each piece represents a separate examination of the form in question and is a nuanced response to a previous incarnation.
The college described the pieces as “exciting and challenging,” pitching the event as an opportunity for people to buy directly from makers and for gallery owners and collectors to scout new talent.
Below are some of our selections from the event accompanied by descriptions of the artists. Keep an eye out for some of these people at a later date!
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Annie Turner, Drift Net. The fair states: Annie Turner holds an almost unique place in British Ceramics, unique because her art is so closely linked to just one region, the river Deben in Suffolk, on England’s east coast. Her work is inextricably linked to this water land, the flows and currents of a broad estuary and its banks and boarders, a place she has long sailed and navigated, just as her late father took his own boat on it before her. Annie Turner’s sculptures are as much about rootedness, and her own family’s strong connections with the river for generations, as it is about the tidal changes and seasonal rhythms that mark the progress of time.
Christiane Wilhelm, Pair of containers, 2014, stoneware, thrown, dark and green slip burnished, 49 cm height. The fair states: Elegant,classic vessel forms that draw their contemporaneity from a range of different surface structures. A modern ornament with incised and scored textures. Porcelain scraps applied to the stoneware body of the pot,scored or painted textures. Glossy surfaces contrast with matt,rippled with silky smooth. Seductively tactile.
Delfina Emmanuel, Twist Vessel, semi-porcelain clay, cast, hand built, lead glaze, 17 x 9 x 9 cm. The artist states: The ceramic forms I make have been influenced by the delicate and fragile nature of living organisms. My sources of inspiration come from my birth island of Sardinia, rich in marine life, with corals, anemones and rock formations. In building up rich surfaces from layers of glazes and lustres I try to capture in my vessels these delicate qualities by making them as exquisite as possible.I use SP porcelain clay and my making combine hand building, press moulding and slip casting.
Isobel Egan, Internal Spaces, 2014, hand-built porcelain grids mounted onto a bespoke painted backing piece, 36 hand-built porcelain boxes fired to 1,250 degrees, 80 x 80 cm. The artist states: The inspiration for my work is a combination of different facets including: architecture, space, memory and emotion. I have always been inspired by architecture and its multi-dimensional portrayal of form. My work represents a relationship with space and how it shapes us, both physically and emotionally. It investigates the interrelationships between us and the buildings we inhabit. I work with porcelain as the intrinsic characteristics of the material, its translucence and delicate paper-like quality enable the realisation of my concepts.
Jin Eui Kim, Resonance No. 5, earthenware, wheel throwing, brushed 18 tones of engobes, applied with a thin layer of matte glaze, 41.3 x 7.2 cm. The artist states:
My work explores how the perception of three-dimensional ceramic forms can be manipulated by the application of arrangements of bands on their surfaces. Depending on the arrangement, using gradients of width, interval or tone, illusory spatial phenomena can appear and thus significantly influence the actual three-dimensional forms. The duration of viewer’s attention, viewer’s position, tone or colour of the background are also crucial influencing factors for the creation of such illusions. My works attract viewers by visual phenomena as well as physical confusions appearing on their surface.
Karin Bablok, porcelain vessel, thrown with a wall in betweem, geometric painting combines five different layers with each other, 18 cm.
Karin Bablok, porcelain vessel, thrown on the wheel, round, painted with lines, three different perspectives, 55 x 5 cm. The artist states: Each of my vessels is a single off piece, made out of porcelain. Each is thrown extremely thin on the wheel, sometimes deformed or painted in different styles with black basalt glaze. It is fired at 1300°C in a gas kiln. The gestural painting with its loosened up stroke often reminds one of trees in the snow, flying birds or fruits. In my geometric painting horizontals and verticals run across, proportions are similar or supplementary, always in order to balance the overall view. The subtle shades of the coloured porcelain interact with each other. They fascinate with their purity.
Kyra Cane, Tiny Porcelain Pots, Limoges porcelain with white glaze, black stain and yellow glaze, 9 cm. The fair states: Kyra Cane makes pots which explore and exploit the soft fluid qualities of porcelain. She throws fine bowls and vessels which retain the traces of hands, tools and making processes, whilst exploring the potential of scale from large voluminous forms to small intimate pieces. She uses glaze and stain to emphasise relationships between interior and exterior, firing to very high temperatures to enable materials to fade, fuse and blur. The marks on her pots suggest landscape reminiscent of her drawings, the colour, tone and subtlety of the surface evoking memories of elemental places.
Maria Wojdat, Untitled Group, white earthenware, engobes, 17 x 25 cm. The artist states: Drawing on aspects of functionality and a fascination with ancient utensils, my process utilises the repeated actions of the pestle and mortar. As a starting point for the vessels it is a process in which the soft clay is allowed to find its own shape under the force of the action. Making each form is a unique journey which encompasses an appreciation of chance and explores the balance between spontaneity and control, the organic and the geometric. Continuing the exploration of these themes, new work is exploring an abstract shifting of the lines, planes and colours found in the vessels.
Thomas Bohle, Miniatures Group, double walled. The artist states:
My work is not just to be seen but to be lived with. By being touched and used in daily life, they can explain themselves much better than any statement.
nice ,