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Change the world - rebuild it
in clay.


I work with clay because it is such a responsive material. It is a pleasure to work with a medium that does (almost) what you want. Clay can be moulded when it is soft, when pressed it holds the shape you give it, when it dries to a leather-hard state it can be worked like soft wood or plaster, carved, cut and re-joined in sheets.

Working with clay seems to have a therapeutic value too. Could this be because it is satisfying to have an idea then to realise it in a physical form? Or is it just good for us to exercise our dexterity as it is to exercise our minds and bodies in general? Then again it could simply be that working with our hands has value as a form of play and that part of the benefit is in the playing rather than in the result.

What to make of clay in the 21st century?

What is really interesting to me about this medium is what to make with it in the modern world. Clay work sits anywhere between the fields of art and craft but this is only to be expected, the material will take whatever meaning you give it, it is receptive and open, it has no problem, the difficult bit comes when you try to sell what you have made, where do you place your work to let it tell it's own story?

Drawing on the unconscious

My work has several strands of ideas running through it, including an iconagraphy drawn from my history as man and boy mixed liberally with references to art and contemporary life.

I find that experimenting with forms that are not entirely designed in advance is a good way to generate ideas and techniques that can be consciously incorporated in later work.
At the time of writing I continue to work with fired and glazed clay. My work is transforming itself by becoming larger through splitting it into many parts that make up groups or installations. I am developing some work which is much more subjective and less centred on imagery and wit. My glazing palette has at least doubled with the development of the Karparc installation.

 
   

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Above (part of): 'Space exploration - phase one: Hesitation on the threshold of destiny'
Six glazed earthenware objects joined with polyester threads.
Image copyright S.Fell

Work in progress

Projects in progress now tend to be much bigger in that they have many component parts. The components are not particularly big but the overall idea can be.

A recently completed work is an installation where ceramic objects are linked by red polyester threads. Although the ceramic elements of this work are modest in scale the whole work has a grand scope, like a medium sized galaxy in miniature. Some of the parts are attached to walls, floor or furniture, others hang in mid air held by taught strings and the pull of gravity. The process of installing the work was fraught with technical challenges mainly associated with putting the ceramic objects in place without breaking them, and getting the tension of the cords right and the composition of the whole ensemble.

Karparc (below) currently consists of about 300 small (length 5 to 6 cms) ceramic cars richly textured, coloured with slips and glazed with a wide range of glaze and slip colours.

Karparc, a cermic installation

[Above] Karparc, an ongoing project.
100+ glazed earthenware 'car' forms, h30mm max.
Image copyright S.Fell






 

 

 

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