My practice is about memories, personal and collective. It’s about layers of memories revealed, concealed, traces, glimpses and especially stories or narratives. I love the imperfections of wear, decay, rust, erosion and even erasure. These imperfections carry the memory and memories of individuals and communities.
Clay holds memory of the place it came from, the history of previous use. Then my making adds memory to it, it’s form, marks, even finger prints. Then the firing process changes the clay to ceramic and the uncertainty associated with firing adds further layers to the resulting work.
The poet, Nikita Gill, says that “these aren’t scars, these are stories”
It’s about the layers, the idea of Palimpsest – a surface bearing the traces of different layers of record – and the memories contained in the history and culture of the layers.
In 6 Memos for the Next Millenium, Italo Calvino says that “a story is ….. an enchantment that effects the flow of time, contracting it or expanding it” and that “even the most minor of objects is seen as the centre of a network of relations”.
I am interested in stories, particularly women’s stories. Who writes the stories? Who is allowed to write the stories? Are they telling herstory not just history?
I love museums, collections and archives. For my final MA project I am exploring a mill archive. Researching the stories, tools, equipment and objects of the women who worked there as inspiration for my objects.
I want to develop evocative objects that resonate with viewers. Clay holds memories and the objects I create evoke memories in the viewer.
My practice weaves ideas, unusual and recognisable with shared and important stories.
The objects I create are beautiful, sometimes playful and always haptic, intriguing and drawing the viewer in to engage with them. They resonate with narrative that triggers conversations and evokes memories.
Please feel free to get in touch.