MOVING STORIES I, II, III MATTHEW RAW
white grogged earthenware
TRéSOR DéCOUVERT AMY JAYNE HUGHES
reduction-fired porcelain
SEVENTY FOUR THREADS OF LIFE HANNE MANNHEIMER
porcelain,wool, thread,metal,wool
TRINARY 2010 KOJI SHIRAYA
porcelain, feldspar
The very different work by these 4 artists captivated me at
the RCA Graduate show last week, and I had to
share their pieces with you!!!
I adore ceramics and the Royal College of Art in London has the premier ceramics & glass master degree program in the world!!!! I am lucky enough to own a number of pieces from past RCA graduates and last week I was lucky enough to see the Summer RCA Graduate show ..... and fortunate enough to add several pieces to my collection!!!
The artist's speak best about their own work ..........
MATTHEW RAW- "I have created sculptural ceramic forms in reaction to the current situation of people seeking asylum in the UK. My aesthetic response has developed at the RCA to integrate these two elements. Rather than rely on second-hand accounts, I have actively sought out real-life stories. With this language I have fused a relationship between the structure and the narrative: form lead by content."
AMY JAYNE HUGHES- "Symbolic of an important time in Ceramic history. the collection bridges the gap between the past and the present, finding a new home in contemporary culture. The pieces speak of the highly prestigious Porcelain wares produced at the Royal Sévres Factory in the late 17th and 18th Centuries. Objects d'art produced there were so refined and tightly controlled they carried no visible suggestion of their material identity. and so lavishly decorated that each detail was left in competition on the surface, striving to attract attention. In contract, through fresh interpretation the clay body and its material qualities are both elevated and celebrated."
HANNE MANNHEIMER- "More often than not, it begins with a found object, like the texture of a thread or the memory of a porcelain figure. Sometimes, the found can be a story, even a few words describing something or a feeling that needs to be made in a tactile and fragile material. The combination of the found and the made, a tangible object and an abstract idea is what motivates me the most. This allows the material qualities of the clay to interact with the refined details of the found elements. I love the clumsy, awkward and sometimes ugly qualities that can be found in old and discarded objects with inherent narratives, suggesting the passage of time."
KOJI SHIRAYA- "Man lives out daily contradictions in his relationship with nature. in my work I express the harmony of nature's beauty and man's use of it. By using only two materials, porcelain and feldspar, I have controlled their reaction at a specific level of heat. Porcelain and feldspar are naturally occurring materials, and in combination, under controlled heat, they change in expression from solid to fluid. My intention is to offer a place of contemplation , bringing nature closer to us, and magnifying detail of its reality."
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