LINDA STYLES

New Craftsman 10.09.11 - 28.10.11

2011-09-05T11:31:00.001-07:00

New Craftsman 10.09.11 - 28.10.11, a set on Flickr.

Oh Dubai October 2009.mov

2011-06-14T03:49:00.000-07:00

Figuration

2010-12-06T17:38:00.000-08:00

Hang ups and pin ups - December 2010.mov

2010-11-30T15:37:00.000-08:00

Pictures by lindamarieart - Photobucket

2010-11-27T17:36:00.000-08:00

Pictures by lindamarieart - Photobucket

Mad one

2010-10-21T08:27:00.000-07:00

null

Linda Styles, freak family 2007

2010-07-09T02:26:00.001-07:00

Linda Styles, freak family 2007 , originally uploaded by lindastylesart.

Flickr

2010-06-15T17:07:00.001-07:00

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Will

2010-01-19T06:39:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ff-G6u8P0ZU

Will

2010-01-14T05:47:00.001-08:00

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=189096716588&ref=mf

Will

2010-01-14T05:45:00.000-08:00

http://www.facebook.com/pages/In-Commemoration-of-Will-Styles/190190759914?ref=mf

Lighthouse gallery Penzance

2009-10-12T03:43:00.000-07:00

Gallerysca, Shrewsbury Autumn Exhibition Oct–Dec 09

2009-10-12T03:03:00.000-07:00

http://www.gallerysca.co.uk/the-autumn-collection/

Beyond the Surface Galanthus Gallery, Herefordshire

2009-10-12T02:47:00.000-07:00

http://www.galanthusgallery.com/artist_detail.asp?artistNo=182

New pots at The new Craftsman, St Ives

2009-10-07T04:15:00.000-07:00

E-interview for Miss Laura (Undergraduate research)

2009-03-11T02:21:00.001-07:00

Interview for Miss Laura.

How did you arrive/ decide ceramics?
I studied art beginning with A'level in my early 30's as a single parent of three after having been a dancer, actress and antique trader in fine costume and jewellery. I then went on to Foundation pre-Degree, HND in Ceramics, BA (hons) 1st class, PGCE, all the while building my practice and teaching/course managing.

Where did you train?
Falmouth College of Arts

What decided you to become self-employed?
I have always been self-employed since working as a dancer from the age of 16, I come from a costermonger background so i find it suits my temperament and lifestyle best.

How did you first get your work seen?
Bernie of Enjoy clothing took the Conran rejects, Bob Devereaux of Salthouse,
Roger Cadwallader of Frame warehouse also supported undergraduate practice.
Sir Terence commissioned the breakfast range for Michelin House in 1995, Ceramic review published an undergraduate research project, V & A Museum had the rubber sheathed teapots, galleries approached me whilst I was still training and has evolved from thereonin.

Do you think your work appeals to a particular audience?
Probably, I just compulsively make, I do not follow fashion but am aware of trends before they happen, so am well able to go with the flow without ever selling out or obeying any structure outside of myself.

How do you advertise your work?
Erratically and intuitively, I am not a conventional business strategist, I sometimes stage my own defeats but usually concentrate on the triumphs, of which there have been many of both… the simplest way of putting it is that I see life as performance, myself as a diametrically opposed, perversely banal and bitter, sometimes brilliant narrator of my own soap opera, my ceramic work just one tiny aspect of the carefully disjointed and put back together whole.
I self publicise over the net, blog, twitter, own main site, press releases and feature articles, academic research, curate own shows, adaptable and uncompromising.

How did you first approach galleries?
I didn't, apart from sending Sir Terence Conran a mug through the post, galleries have always contacted me.

As a single parent how did you juggle life and a career? What advice would you give?
I would not give advise as I feel it is a case of finding a way through that suits the individuals involved.
However, I would not advise getting so immersed in ones practice as to miss the important aspects of living life; but the nature of my own practice is compulsive and non negotiable - a contradiction in terms!

How much time do you spend creating your ceramics?
Less time nowadays, I paint on canvas, put together installation’s, write.
I still teach one day per week, but much has happened since those early days of hope and glory, I am no longer willing to spent every day and night in the studio in order to meet other peoples deadlines.

Have you always worked in ceramics?
Answered in question 1.

Do you work in other mediums?
Answered above, also I write a lot with a view to publishing my memoir
'The Chronicles of a Disquietened Life'.

How much time do you spend in administration?
Loads at the moment, although it would be debatable whether what I do iadministration? I am an insomniac so spent a lot of time on computer, my brain whizzing round and round, twittering, picassa’ing, flickr’ing – a disproportionate number of hours is spent on these ‘tasks’. I have an accountant and am fairly organised in that I let him do all the paper work.

Where do you get your inspiration?
A life misled, the stupefied nonsense that is the orthodox system that I am a part of but will never stop fighting against i.e. Art education, Mental ill health provision with regard to care in the community,

Are there any other artists that inspire you?
Charlie Watts - my fiance

Work in progress

2009-03-01T13:49:00.000-08:00

Work in progress, trying to find my way back from a broken and intrinsically flawed wasteland of an exterior place, to do with a forever altered sense of reality based upon the worst pain that I have ever felt.

Linda Styles Technical Statement

2009-02-24T07:30:00.001-08:00

My work has evolved over the course of my ceramic practice which started in 1990,but has always maintained certain 'trademark' features. It has continuued to be pushed to the very limits of endurance/existance,I obscure and reveal the surface and form in order to achieve a tension of opposites. My use of multi firing and multi layering began at the inception of my career, my repetoire being a combination of reactive/inactive porcelain slips, fritted slips, my own glaze formula’s and commercial low fire glazes and lustre's. The clay is cut semi-randomly freehand from soft slabs that are placed on a variety of hump moulds to which I add angled sheets of clay, which are then stressed, torn, stamped, slit and re-assembled. My marks are not meant to be literal interpretation, and are perhaps best described as organic abstract in notion and intent.My surfaces are now more to do with colour, line and space, although still always underpinned by emotions ranging from angst and despair to joyous optimism, depending on my mood. Reference to figuration and narrative are always present. Ceramic process, has throughout history/prehistory, carried the potential for expressive visual surface, using heat works and chemical formula’s to achieve the brilliance and richness of vitrified,fused glass surface that is uniquely associated with this special art/craft medium. I like to think that I am providing my marketplace with nifty little post-modern interpretations of domestic ornament for the home. The preparation of form and surface is surprisingly complex considering that simplicity is the goal. Of late I have become immersed in the exploration of the sometimes alarming dichotomy between surface and form. Always prone to excess, I manipulate to the point of collapse and then rebuild adding more and more surface detail with each firing, a complex and forever challenging process that I am immersed in. I use a white porcelain/dense, saturating black and coloured ground slip which is poured on when the form is leather hard, to achieve a luminous/saturated canvas on which to place my chosen palette of colour. Large brushes loaded with corresponding; sometimes clashing coloured slips are then dragged across the base coat in random stripes and circles. I then flick, splash and draw through these layers, quick line drawings that expose and respond to what lies beneath and goes before. The ‘marks’ are not meant to be a literal interpretation, and are perhaps best described as organic abstract in notion and intent.My surfaces are now more to do with colour, line and space as opposed to angst and despair, although reference to figuration and narrative are always present. I rub additional oxides and pigments into the surface before bisque firing to 1000’c after which they are usually glazed on the interior surface as I want to encourage usage. I then fire to 1120’c.The exterior surface is purposely contrasted between matte and gloss. Stone like and tactile in nature, onto which I place, in selected areas, bright, often gaudy, synthetic looking colour and fire again to 1000’ c, the final firing being taken to 747’c, for the precious metals and lustre's that are used to highlight ‘handles’ and to detail small areas, hopefully suggesting hideous preciousness and gorgeousness.

Recent pots

2009-02-23T13:58:00.000-08:00

Food for thought

2009-02-06T17:50:00.000-08:00

I researched the meanings of Aesthetics a few years ago now because it is a word that was and is bandied about by lecturers, myself included, without fully knowing what the word means, UCF and CC art students were given this hand out and i continue to use it to this day.

Aesthetic Attitude
The aesthetic attitude is supposedly a particular way of experiencing objects. It is said to be an attitude independent of any motivations to do with utility, economic value, moral judgment or personal emotion and is to do with experiencing the object ‘for its own sake’. The object may or may not possess atmospheric as well as regional affective visual and tactile qualities to do with the human experience. The extreme would be marked by a state of pure detachment by the observer inclusive of an absence of all desires directed toward the object - an elevated state which actually goes beyond our ordinary understanding of reality, a state of heightened rerceptiveness in which our perception of the object is disengaged from emotion, the term ‘disinterested’ often being applied to such an attitude. This attitude can be directed as much to nature as works of art and for some thinkers it is seen as important
that we adopt an aesthetic attitude toward any object without restriction.
In the case of art the aesthetic attitude can support the idea that certain kinds of response are privileged, others discountable on the grounds of failing to take the correct attitude toward the object concerned. This assumes that the point of art is wholly aesthetic therefore the notion of an aesthetic attitude deserves to be treated with some scepticism as it has in recent philosophy.

Aesthetic Distance
In this version of aesthetic attitude theory, aesthetic response is said to occur when people distance themselves from an object they perceive, leaving themselves free to contemplate.
‘Distancing’ is also thought to aid understanding of artistic representation. Someone whose own emotions became engaged, eg, pity, contempt,would be ‘under distanced’.

Aestheticism
A term sometimes used about the value of art. It is a idea that works of art can only be valued for their aesthetic merits and does not require anything outside of itself. An alternative to this would be ‘instrumentalist, the view that art is valuable, if at all, because it is a means to some end, such as moral improvement, knowledge, or a more cohesive society. For aestheticism, art belongs wholly in the realms of the aesthetic and that realm has a purely autonomous value, (carrying its guiding principles within itself).

Aesthetic Judgment
For most philosophers, not all aesthetic judgments are about art, and not all judgments about art are aesthetic judgments. For Kant aesthetic judgments are nothing to do with subjective preferences such as like and dislike which tend to be based on experiences such as ‘pleasure’ and ‘association’ and ‘sentiment’.

History of Aesthetics
Beginnings in Greek philosophy, but aesthetics or the philosophy of art dates almost certainly from Immanuel Kant’s Critique of Judgment. He was the first to give aesthetics a logically and philosophically distinctive role within the entire philosophical system. Kant topics - taste, the analysis of the beautiful and the sublime, genius and creative freedom and the moral function of the aesthetic are generally though to be the basis for the turning point in the whole of 19th and 20th century philosophy,(transcendental or critical idealism. He treats aesthetic judgment as universal. These theories seem to have little bearing on the recent history of criticism in the arts - which is no longer centred on beauty, pleasure and disinterested feelings.If anything Kant’s account of the ‘sublime’ - experience of objects that exceed our perception and imagination, sometimes daunting and dreadful, usually exhilarating to contemplate, eg,storms at sea, sky at night, seems more relevant today because it deals with the meaning of our own lives and ultimately how we interpret life in art. This view has similarities to 6th century romanticism. The philosophical discussion of beauty has involved ancient and pre-modern literature - Plato, Aristotle among the ancients, Augustine and Thomas Aquinas among the medievals, and influences from the ancient period in the High Renaissance and the early modern period.
Contemporary European thinkers include: Jean-Paul Sorter, Roland Barthes, Michel Foucault, Friedrich Schelling, Friedrich Nietzsche, Marx, Tolstoy and Freud. These thinkers focus on puzzles regarding -

1. The conceptual relationship between art and craft.
2. Cognitive sources relatively free
of conceptual structure.
3. Considerations of freedom, creativity, authenticity, self-expression and the like somehow facilitated by the production of art.
4. The analysis of artistic expression.
5. The theoretical relationship between art and science and between the cognizing powers of practical and theoretical intelligence.

Aesthetics is now largely concerned with the theory and criticism of art. The work of this (emerging) period has tended to centre on the analysis of the more difficult features of art works i.e expressive, representational, rhetorical, stylistic, intentional and semiotic (general theory of signs) properties. It is also necessary to examine the nature of language,, culture and history as an aid to the understanding of aesthetics.

New focuses include -

1. The nature of collective cultural life.
2. The historicized nature of human existence and the artifacts of the human world.
3. Serious conceptual difficulties in forming an objectivist account of description and interpretation among the human studies.
4. The historicizing of genre studies.

In this late eclectic period some would state that the capacity for interpretation is preformed, prejudiced, interested, partial, horizontal, so making it difficult if not impossible to reach any neutral or
objective account of what is being interpreted and that the whole of human inquiry, including the physical sciences, is in some way infected by the same constraints although the human condition continues to dominate Western thinking.

Problems of Aesthetics
Aesthetics is the branch of philosophy that deals with the arts and with other situations that deal with aesthetic experience and aesthetic value. Contemporary aesthetics is a rich and challenging part of philosophy, marked by a high level of disagreement even about what its basic problems are. Faced with a field of diverse subject matter, aesthetics often looks to stable reference points in its own history.
Philosophy of the aesthetic. Many different kinds of things are regarded as having aesthetic value - music, poetry, paintings, cinema, bird-song, countryside, clothes, cars, presentation of food, all these things and more capable of adding an extra dimension to our lives. Are we talking about ‘beauty’? Beauty, truth and the good being the traditional staples of philosophy. With the arts in particular, it is debatable whether beauty is the quality that gives them value, although still worth noting that some philosophers regard beauty as the best name for aesthetic value. The big obvious question about aesthetic value is whether it is actually really ‘in’ the objects it is attributed to. This question goes beyond like and dislike, perhaps to do with our common nature as human subjects and founded on a pleasurable response to the form of the object. This means that aesthetic value cannot be listed in learnable principles because to find aesthetic value we must in keynotes words “get a look at the object with our own eyes”, therefore judgments are founded on the slender basis of ones own feelings of pleasure, but can justifiably claim universal agreement if the subjective response in question is one which any properly equipped viewer would have. Is the aesthetic in fact not residing in the object itself but in our entering a particularly liberating and receptive state of mind. Recent critics have doubted whether any such state of mind exists, or whether, if it does, it is anything more important than simply concentrating fully on what one is looking at or listening to. Aesthetic responses to art usually depend to some extent upon knowledge of the style and genre which a piece is in, the identity and intentions of the artist, the historical period and the cultural associations, although this could merely be classed as understanding a work of art. The uninformed observer is entitled to his or her responses but there must also be room in principle for right and wrong aesthetic judgments.
Art definitely has other values, for example therapeutic value, it may give us moral insight or help us to understand points of view radically different from our own, we might admire a work for it’s moral integrity or despise it for its depravity or political untruthfulness. Art has a great variety of values, art being music, literature, painting, sculpture, architecture,dance, film and of course,ceramics. All are intentially produced artifacts although all are not physical objects such as a symphony. All are expressions of emotion, all are significant form but we still haven't clarified why art is important. To find out it is necessary to pose specific questions such as: How does music express emotion? What makes a painting a picture of something? What happens when we imagine characters in novels? In addressing these questions the philosopher of art will often call on conceptions of identity, meaning, intention and other mental states such as belief, emotion and imagination. So, so complex!

Q. Buildings that we live in, war atrocities which we see on film, the naked human body - should we want to adopt a purely aesthetic attitude to these things?

Q. Are we always capable or willing to abandon our moral or emotional attitudes?

Q. Could we assume that this attitude is easier to attain if the individual is naturally logical or emotional distant as opposed to passionate and volatile in their disposition?

Q. Is art an imitation of an imitation of reality?

Q. Is it necessary to acquire knowledge to be capable of making appropriate aesthetic judgment or to possess aesthetic sensibility?

Q. Could intuition be used in aesthetic judgments?

Q. Does aesthetic value reside in us or is it a property residing in the objects that we look at?

Q. Do we need to approach whatever comes before us in a contemplative frame of mind, the mind becoming temporarily empty of everything but the contemplated object?

Q. Should we treat art with any special privilege?

Q. What relation does the work of art bear to the mind that produced it and what relation does it bear to the mind that perceives and appreciates it?

Bibliography:-

A Schopenhauer, The World as will and representation, i tr. EFJ Payne (New York,1964)

E. Bullough, ‘Psychical Distance as a Factor in Art and an Aesthetic Principle’, in Aesthetics: Lectures and Essays (London 1957)

W. Pater, The Renaissance: Studies in Art and Poetry,in W E Buckler (ed), Walter Pater:Three Major Texts (New York 1986)

I. Kant, Critique of Judgment, tr. J.C. Meredith (oxford,1969)

Monroe C. Beardsley, Aesthetics (New York, 1958)

Nelson Goodman, Languages of Art (Indianapolis, 1968)

R.G. Collingwood, The Principles of Art (Oxford 1938)

Linda Styles January 2003

2009-02-06T05:22:00.000-08:00

Creatives Inside Out Q & A for December 08 edition of Artichoke

Q. Where were you born, where do you live and why do you choose to live in Cornwall?
A. I was born in ‘Suburbia’, Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey on the outskirts of London where I stayed until the age of 16, I then moved to Ladbroke Grove W11, to become immersed in the early 70’s ‘freak Culture’. I came to Cornwall in 1976, where I have been ever since. My reasons for choosing Cornwall as my home are manifold, some to do with childhood memories of 60’s Cornwall, my father’s dream of living here, a deep sense of belonging and a misguided need to reinvent and escape my ‘self’.

Q. Describe a bit about yourself and your creative experience. What are you trying to achieve in your work?
A. I have come to accept that I am not an ‘easy’ person, I am intense, angry, passionate, impulsive, self-defeating, addictive, compulsive and damaged beyond belief but no longer hell bent on self destruct. I see life and art as one and the same thing, a way of being if you like. I am full of contradictions; compulsions and extremes, there are aspects of myself that I have struggled to come to terms with over the years of my life, having made a feature of never taking the easy route through. My work is garish, sometimes hideous, sometimes gorgeous, always awkward, always with undercurrents of dysfunction and autobiographical narrative, in this respect it mirrors me because I am my art/my art is me.
I strive to achieve the following within my work :-
Balance, tension of opposites, consistency, fluidity, luminousity, integrity of purpose, non-complacency.

Q. How would you describe what inspires you most?
A. A life misled, society’s misfits, the endurance of the human soul, the pain and joy of existence, solitude.

Q. What medium do you like to use?
A. I find it difficult to settle on any one medium but am most in tune with clay, perhaps because it is plastic and malleable, add to this fire and chemicals, the risk factor, the fact that I have stayed with it for so many years. I also see my body/ my self as a main medium – where would I be without them?

Q. Who are the creative’s you admire?
A. Lisa Stewart because of her purity, Charlie Watts because of his integrity and myself because of my bloody-mindedness. I could give you a list of ‘famous’ artists that I have been drawn to over the years but I tend not to look anymore…too distracting!

Q. If the world were coming to an end, which one piece of art would you consider saving, aside from your own?
A. I wouldn’t, what would be the point? I feel that the ‘physical’ object is somehow meaningless and that we are in fact constrained and trapped by ‘things’. Having said that I would consider saving a small tatty paperback called‘ The Abolition of Man’ by C S Lewis. This man has inspired me throughout my life so it would seem fitting to to take a little piece of him on my journey into the unknown.

I titled this painting - 'All the things that I love the most'... Mixed media (Charcoal, Acrylic, water colour, gauche on canvas 90cm x 90cm 2007, after 'People in the night guided by the phosphorescent tracks of snails (Jean Miro 1940), as my Homage to him.

I have always responded to Miro because he never lost his burning desire to experiment, to probe deeper and deeper into the nature of reality. I too, am experimental/experiential in my approach to my practice (and my life).
I deliberately chose not to study the pictorial elements of this series of paintings as my starting point; however, I was struck by the poetic use of titles.
I could draw a comparison to my own practice here, in that Miro used Andre Breton's prose poems to enhance the poetic effects of his art. I regularly use Mills and Boon pulp fiction extracts as title constructs. The word 'Phosphorescent ' soon became the key element, a beautiful and exciting word that got stuck in my mind. Glow worms started to appear, followed swiftly by human figures, animals, the sky, and the moon and the sun - a mix of obsessive minute detail, antidotal free painting and wordless narrative rhythms.
I feel that I have ended up with creatures that are delightful in their absurdity, a black humoured nightmarish world of penetrating eyes, red lipped, spiky teeth baring open jaws, pierced and wounded at random, limbs a akimbo, breasts a dangling, all floating, flying and dancing in space. I suppose that I have unwittingly exposed the depths of my own agony!

Anyway, I feel that I have achieved the phosphorescent quality that I desired, also the stick lady could be a snail with a trail if viewed using lateral thought process....

Subversives art group

2009-01-28T14:47:00.001-08:00

http://subversivefigures.blogspot.com/

Falmouth Baby Tile project

2008-11-07T01:31:00.001-08:00

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/jan/05/wild-mums-falmouth-gallery-cornwall

This year long project is due for completion in December 2008. I have found it invigorating and inspiring for many reasons.

Celebrating Cornwall's Stained Glass Heritage

A community heritage project
led by Falmouth Art Gallery

Introduction

This innovative community project is transforming Falmouth's Municipal
Buildings, home of Falmouth Art Gallery, Falmouth Town Council and
Falmouth Library, into a sea of shimmering colours. The building is
soon to be brought back to its former glory with two magnificent new
stained glass windows designed by Falcare (formerly Mencap) and excluded
children, as well as a wall of fantastic new tiles all of which have
been designed by local babies and toddlers (including babies of domestic
abuse victims and teenage mothers).

'Celebrating Cornwall's Stained Glass Heritage' is funded by the
Heritage Lottery Fund. The gallery has worked with the local community
and organisations to restore the original symmetry of the building. In
addition to the windows and tiles the foyer has been restored with new
carpentry and the reinstatement of the painting 'Got 'em all' - The Bob
Newbon Lifeboat by Charles Napier Hemy RA (which helps fundraising for
the RNLI). The local community are also enjoying taking part in a
year-long education programme that included creative workshops, outreach
activities, visits, special events and parties! The project will be
completed in early December 2008. However, the stained glass windows
will act as a catalyst for continuing workshops and educational
activities in the future.

Tile Workshops

The designs for the tiles were created by local babies and toddlers aged
0-4 years old (pre-school). Ceramicist Linda Styles created a template
that reflected the original 18th century designs on the opposite wall
leaving a blank disc in the centre for the children to make their marks.
The gallery then invited the Susie Group (support group for victims of
domestic abuse), the WILD Young Mothers Group, mothers and babies from
local health centres as well as its usual Baby Paint groups to take part
in workshops where they imprinted marks in clay. These creations were
then used to make 140 individually designed tiles.

Much to the enjoyment of observing visitors fourteen baby and toddler
workshops took place throughout the summer at the gallery. Donna
Williams led the workshops, with the assistance of the ceramicist Linda
Styles and various staff and volunteer members. All workshops were free
and highly popular.

With each session, Linda explained to parents and carers how these new
tiles would correspond with the 18th century tiles opposite. This
appealed to parents and visitors alike, and it was a chance for the
babies to experience the joy of manipulating clay. For the parents
these tiles would provide a lasting memento of their child's first
years. They liked the idea that the babies and toddlers would still be
able to visit when the babies are grandparents. The project also
stimulated a sense of pride at having the babies work as a permanent and
integral part of the Municipal Buildings and Falmouth's heritage.

Each child was given a large panel of clay on which to make expressive
marks. A detail of this tile was then selected for the circular cut
out. In addition to a rectangular base, children were provided with
extra clay to add to the piece and utensils for creating interesting
marks, which many of the babies were thrilled with. Indeed, the texture
and malleability of the clay proved to be a great delight to the babies,
who had never experienced this material before. For newborn babies (the
youngest was 2 weeks) the clay base was softened and imprints of their
feet were made. Each tile was carefully labelled and referenced in
order to allow each child to identify his or her tile, both now and in
the years to come.

Linda Styles - Function? 10.10.08 - 12.11.08

2008-10-08T05:46:00.000-07:00

Function / form?
Form / function?
Duplicity?
Complicity?

The body of work prepared for this show is primarily an exploration of colour, line and space, historically alligned to the organic abstract studio pottery movement that formed part of mid 20th century art school backlash to the formality of the Leach philosophy and tradition.

I prefer my work to serve a purpose, even if that purpose is not based on a functionality that is obvious in the traditional sense. It remains
important to me that my work "comes to the hand nicely", the true sign of a good pot
according to Leach!

My practice continues to relate to the exploration of tactile instinctual
form in relation to unorthodox surface methodology and whilst I want to encourage usage I continue to question the notion of the mainstream
view of ‘imperfect’. In this respect, my motive remains constant regardless of process, material and outcome.

Preview this Friday, 10.10.08, 7 - 9pm - all welcome

Dundee Contemporary Arts

2008-09-16T18:41:00.000-07:00

Exhibition starts Tuesday 23rd September

Submersive Figures

2008-08-06T15:33:00.000-07:00

My submission for ‘Submersive Figures’ is a highly charged expression of a certain type of artistic temperament, tangiable evidence of an attitude to life that is highly strung and self-conscious, demonstrating my love of imbalance, theatrical extravaganza, the weird, the whimsical, the grotesque, the savage and the raw.

In every respect it is overt and necessarily post-modern, in terms of both concept and technique.

There is an underlying and perhaps less obvious reference to the Mannerist phase of the late Renaissance which links to my fascination with our current vulgar culture of excess. I also needed to express my deep sense of impending danger, personally and universally.

This ‘limited edition’ range is block titled: -
‘Those Subterranean Blues’, featuring…

The Urn of the Abysmal Abyss in the Wild Blue Yonder
The Four Angels of Mercy
Holy Sacrimento’ x 3
The banality of the Snorkel
Cupie 1
Cupie 2
War of Atrition

*Every element of this assemblage of parts has been fired to 1000’c, 1120’c and 780’c, immersed in a saturating cobalt blue, focal points highlighted with mother of pearl and liquid gold…in an attempt to add a touch of luxury and splendour.

‘My Achey Breaky Heart’
83 x 83 x 5cms
Acrylic and mixed media

"The worst thing you can imagine"

Cornwall Culture press release on link below

http://www.cornwallculture.co.uk/guide-events.php?id=2440&imno=3&area=2&areaid=2440

'PET'

2008-07-31T18:15:00.001-07:00

Over the Moon Gallery, St Agnes
www.overthemoongallery.co.uk
info@overthemoongallery.co.uk
1st August to 3rd September

My starting point for ‘PET’ was to make a list in dedication to the mostly captive but sometimes free mammals, reptiles, fish and birds that I have loved and cared for throughout my finite life in the comforting knowledge that the bond is so strong as to be infinite.

With special mention to all the insects that resided in my insect hotel back in 1963, tadpoles, newts, Humphrey, Ogleberry, Oscar and Hammy the hamsters, Sally and Bella the Golden Labradors, Lucky the Bank Vole, Pidgie the Pigeon, Joss and Nell the rescue Dogs, Pearl and Ruby the Rats, Freddie, Elsie, Felix, Sam, Jasmine, Boris, Dennis, Mimi and Annie the Cats, Tom the Cockerel, Sam the Setter / Whippet cross, Bubble and Squeak the Goldfish, Mollie, and Orson the Jack Russell Terriers,

Not forgetting the mad Doberman, the old mad Elephant and her keeper, the Crocodile, Lions, Polar Bears and Vultures that became my friends between the years of 1966 to 1969 and all the Rats, Gerbils, Hamsters, Guinea Pigs and Chickens whose names I cannot recall.

The work I plan to produce for this show is my ‘homage’ to them all, because they have without doubt enhanced my life as I hope I have theirs.

Mike Mason (OTM gallery owner)
The idea for PET came after reading various postings on the artcornwall.org forum relating to pets and realising the passions involved.
There seems to be a polarisation of views. Pets are a subject that stir up lots of feelings ranging from those who dote on their pets to those that cannot comprehend such sentiments and are even dismissive of such feelings.
The idea for this exhibition is to use humour (wherever appropriate) to explore some of these areas. It’s great when people can be invited to laugh at themselves and examine their attitudes without being remotely nasty or confrontational.
Not all the work is humorous; some is quite serious and invites us to explore areas of human behavior and experience.
The death of a pet, for example, can be an extraordinarily intense emotional experience.
The companionship offered by a pet to an old or lonely person points, perhaps, to deficiencies in our everyday human relationships.
Do people resemble their pets or choose pets that look like themselves (consciously or unconsciously)?
How easy are we with the idea of taming or containing a wild animal?
To what degree might we anthropomorphise animals (the attribution of human characteristics to non-human beings)?
What about commercial interests?
Are there some types of creatures whose company we enjoy and others we are uneasy about?
What about shit and the health and hygiene issues?
Who owns whom, the pet or the person?

Much of the work celebrates pets, some is anthropomorphic, and some raises issues about our relationship with pets (critical or otherwise).
The exhibition is designed to be entertaining, humorous and occasionally thought provoking.
The work will be a mixture of 2D and 3D in a variety of media.
Hopefully an audience will engage with the exhibition and perhaps start to pose their own questions as well as being entertained and amused.

Artists invited to contribute include

Robert Bradford - sculpture
Linda Styles - ceramics
Nick Williams - painting
Victoria Hilliard - paintings
Shelagh Spear - ceramics
Duncan Thurlby - sculpture
Finian Lynch - paintings
Jane Adams - ceramics
Jill Whittaker - textiles/ sculpture
Lynn Harvey - textiles/mixed media
Mike Mason - photography
Maggie O’Brien - paintings
Ric Hyde - paintings
Morwenna Morrison - paintings

Trelissick Gallery - Focus in foyer

2008-07-15T18:00:00.000-07:00

Focus at Trelissick June / July / Aug 2008

This latest body of work is specifically about the exploration of instinctual form in relation to that of unorthodox surface methodology. My intention is to be as spontaneous as possible, a hard task given the volatile nature of clay, heat and chemicals. Nowadays, as always, I find that to be true to myself is paramount in my quest to search for my own ‘perfect’ aesthetic in terms of questioning the notion of the mainstream view of the ‘imperfect’, the tangible object on the shelf representing the sometimes intangible whole.
I like to think that my work is about something ‘other’ than itself, awkward balance and pictorial narrative always present, always linked.

Brian Stewart stated last year,
“ Linda’s ceramics are instantly recognisable, created in a style that is uniquely her own. There is a dynamic tension between the figurative and abstract elements of her work, which often contain intriguing undertones”.

The undertones are autobiographical and necessarily dark but I hope that the overriding essence of my work is to do with optimism, hope and faith as opposed to despair. Vivre la difference!

Subversive figures

2008-07-15T17:34:00.000-07:00

Rationale

2008-05-22T15:36:00.000-07:00

My practice specifically relates to the exploration of instinctual form in relation to unorthodox surface methodology. My intention is to be as spontaneous as possible, a hard task given the volatile nature of clay, heat and chemicals. I prefer my work to serve a purpose, even if that purpose is not based on a functionality that is obvious in the traditional sense. I like to think that my work is about something ‘other’ than itself, awkward balance and pictorial narrative always present, always linked, the tangible object on the shelf or canvas on the wall representing the sometimes intangible whole.
Nowadays, as always, I find that to be true to myself is paramount in my quest to find my own ‘perfect’ aesthetic, whilst questioning the notion of the mainstream view of ‘imperfect’, my motive remaining constant regardless of material, method and outcome.

Falmouth Gallery Project Dec 07 - Nov 08

2008-05-11T17:29:00.000-07:00

Outline Proposal for Falmouth Gallery entrance tile project.
Artist - Linda Styles
Gallery Director - Brian Stewart
18/12/07
Prototype delivered on 02/01/08 to Falmouth Gallery

Brief
To design, facilitate and process an early years widening participation / public space tile assemblage, made specifically to correspond with opposite facing 18the century existing panel.
The given measurements were 35” (2’ 9’/88.9cms) high and 178 – 180” (14’ 9”/454.6cms) long, which is approximately the same size as the original tile panel. The existing tiles measure 9” x 5” (22.8 x 12.7cms), I have bought the scale of each tile down to 5.5” x 5.5” (14 x 14cms), reasons for this are explained in ‘Prototype’ paragraph. My calculations show that we will need to produce 196 tiles = 196 children's inserts, We shall be working in landscape format, 32 tiles long x 6 tiles high giving a height of 33” and width of 176”, with grout this should work perfectly without the need for cutting or spacers.
* The workshops have now begun with The Susie project, Wild Mums being the next group booked.

Rationale
In response to conversations with Brian about the Gallery / Arts Council requirements I have prepared a rough interim proposal. I have tried to be as comprehensive in terms of detail of ideas, people involved, approximate cost / quantity of materials, whilst trying to keep within the discussed remit. The technical nature of this project means that the prototypes can only be a rough visual guide to concept and suggested visuals and methods. Glaze, slip, temperature and body testing programmes (shrinkage rates), are now underway.

I have taken time to seriously consider the historic nature of the existing multi-tiled wall panel in both contextual, visual and technical terms. I wish to acknowledge and confirm to you that I am fully aware of the importance of referencing the many historic elements within a contemporary ceramic design framework.

Discussion has already taken place with Eddie Bradley (technician) and Fosters Pottery manager, Geoff James regarding processing requirements, This preliminary research has been undertaken with a view to finding workable solutions to possible problem areas within the production process. I feel that forward planning will help enable us to achieve the optimum aesthetic balance and sensibility, functionally suitable for a public space setting, a work of art that is also capable of longevity.
*I have worked with both Eddie and Geoff for many years now, Fosters Pottery having sponsored Spontaneous Combustion, it is worth mentioning that we are proven to work well as a team.

As I understand it one of the key elements is widening participation, the chosen workshop group age range being early years, (babies - Year 1 infants), each child making a random abstract? signature 'insert', to be placed centrally into each tile.
The design has been planned to be exact in terms of grid reference so that the individual child can identify his/her tile as they grow.

The existing tile panel is 18th century, course body, the glazes and oxide colours have been identified as high lead transparent + honey inserts, white slip, cobalt oxide, manganese dioxide and copper carbonate to achieve blue, brown and green. The original grout is grey.

An in depth testing programme is underway, although we need to allow more time for this important area, post prototype. I plan to submit a few extra test tile sample colours alongside prototypes to allow the opportunity to select best match to existing.
I am looking forward to helping the children make a beautiful and lasting tile mural that will compliment the existing ceramic panel and the soon to be started monumental stained glass windows.

My proposed team
Linda Styles - Artist
I have researched and designed a choice of 2 sets of 2, (to scale), tile prototypes, to be presented fully processed and mounted on board, together with smaller glaze test tiles, as soon after Christmas as is possible, to be discussed with gallery and
adapted/altered as necessary.

Eddie Bradley - Technician
Eddie is busy researching suitable clay bodies, glaze formulation, firings and will also assist in production of stamp, processing, firing, costing, ordering and transport.

Fosters Pottery - Geoff James (Manager).
Geoff has agreed to let us use his Fosters Pottery industrial space to glaze and fire the tile installation, he has worked out how much clay we will need to order given the measurement of space.
*More detail given in the proposed costing.

Prototypes - Description
The prototypes have been hand cut and modelled, but if we get the go ahead it will be necessary to make a stamp from a mutually agreed original, as we will need to use mass production methods for the sake of cost viability.
I have decided to give 2 examples of style, the first, more sculptural in terms of depth of semi relief, baroque in nature but with serious reference to the 'overall' look.
The second design, simpler in terms of surface raised pattern effects being less obvious, but still concerned with the nature of the 'whole'.
The original tiles measure 9” x 5” (22.8 x 12.7cms), the hexagonal motif falling non centrally, disc motif cut in half, therefore non workable with young children.
So…on both prototypes I have bought the scale of each tile down to 5.5” x 5.5” (14 x 14cms), the hexagonal framing the central disc cut out, giving each child their own individual 'frame' for their random, abstract semi relief pure white disc, to be grouted in, once fired and main part installed.
The clay used was craft crank (toasted effect), which will not necessarily be the final choice. Warpage could present problems so a heavily grogged clay will have to be used but there are many variations on this theme but we are not overly concerned.

*I think that it would be interesting to use the children's first names as opposed to surnames, with reference to the identity griding system. This would be different to the way children are formally listed once education begins and so gives those usually at the end of lists such as registers the opportunity to be in a different order.
*To be further discussed.

*Workshops – 196 children?
* This number has now increased due to adaption of design and number of groups wishing to be involved.
I am not sure how how many per group you usually accommodate but assuming a reasonable number of 15 per session, this would mean approximately 13 workshops. I am also not sure how much time you usually allow, I would say no longer than half an hour is needed for each group so perhaps we could run them in tandem?

*Technical reasons for this design can be discussed if required.

*It is important to remember that drying time cannot be rushed, roughly speaking we need to allow at least 1 month for ceramic processing.

*Body tests being carried out, the original seems to be a dark body with white slip used as undercoat. We are attempting to get as close to the original as is possible.

*I can transport clay to/tiles from gallery. I can also deliver finished product and guide installation.

*I would prefer the installing and grouting in to be done by a professional tradesman, as discussed., please advise.

*Authentic inserts were achieved with the help of my neighbours children (2 little girls aged 3 and 5).
They worked on a small square of clay, just with hands and clay, from which I cut the emblematic disc inserts. No tools were used, just hands.
I think that if we could supply a safe implement for children to use for ‘drawing’ on clay, that this might allow a more defined pattern, add depth and provide a more interesting and varied set of options for children to work with. Health and safety considerations to be discussed further.

*Please refer to jpegs to see work in progress design samples.

Prototype 1

Heavily embossed semi-relief surface, grogged toasted effect clay, assembled and hand carved, then white slipped, colouring oxides will be applied before first bisque firing to 1000’c.

Prototype 2
Simply embossed semi-relief surface, shallow in relation to prototype 1, grogged toasted effect clay, assembled and hand carved, then white slipped, colouring oxides will be applied before first bisque firing to 1000’c.
I plan to alter the sequence of slip/oxide/glaze application, to give a comparative but subtlety alternative surface.

Overview of Prototype
Aesthetically the glaze used in prototype is visually close to original panel. There will be a stamp made to aid uniformity and neatness of main part tile, the prototype being hand modelled and therefore a little naive and unbalanced in style. The colours achieved are a little patchy but this can be rectified by suspending powdered oxides within the chosen base glaze.

Childrens inserts could be a fraction larger and more interest added using scraffito effects, which could then be further enhanced by highlighting their marks with a dilute oxide wash or by applying a bright primary colour to the childrens motif discs, to be discussed?

*Note All potentially toxic processing will take place at Fosters Pottery, under controlled conditions. Nothing dangerous will come into contact with children or gallery staff.

Questions answered a few years ago for a Falmouth undergraduate student

2008-05-04T17:19:00.000-07:00

1. How do you like your work to be displayed and do you usually get a say in this;
I tend to be quite particular when it comes to placement of my wares. I am aware that most galleries tend to think of wall space as premium. As one of my most popular lines are tile panels, retailing between £110 - £350, a problem is presented because craft is not worth as much as high art, in monetary terms (paintings) per square inch. This would certainly present a problem for the beginning maker without a profile. I have been accused of flooding the marketplace - this is fair criticism, but for me it has worked in so far as I am now internationally known and able to wind down the ‘running stock’ way that I have managed my business since I started my new life in 1994, that of Professional Artist/Designer. I work so hard and such long hours that it has been necessary to let my career take care of itself on an intuitive level as opposed to logical. My way of displaying has thankfully changed with this progression in that I am booked up until 2007 with individual/mixed selected themed shows. Newlyn was a good example of this as I was able to present the ‘concept’ of my work, inclusive of an Artist’s talk. My work virtually sold out, so gallery and artist were pleased. From this there has been a knock on effect regarding shows being offered.

2. How would you describe yourself: Artist/ crafts person /designer?
I try not to categorise myself or my work, I have always tended to call myself an artist/maker.

3. How does your work/ working practice define you as this?
I am in a transitionary stage at present, but have a high enough profile not to be controlled by anybody but myself.

4. When did you first realise that you wanted to be a ceramist, can you see
yourself ever working in any other material/ medium?
I never actually wanted to be a ‘ceramist’, just fell into it really, before this I was a dancer/actress, Antique dealer and many other weird occupations. I am heavily involved in Academic research at present, text becoming increasingly seductive to me.

5. In your statement you describe the love/hate relationship that you have for clay;
do you think that this is a common thing for practitioners of a single medium to
feel?
Anybody that has worked with clay knows how frustrating this medium can be, I just make a bit of a feature of my masochistic tendencies, I am also prone to compulsive/obsessive tendencies.

6. Has your work changed much throughout your career;
Most definitely, this is my trademark, I have never made anything that is not individual and unique to me. This can be evidenced by looking at my work over the last decade.
a. Forms - I have tried every technique under the sun - sheet work is my current favourite.
b. Shapes - Desire for simplicity - hardest to achieve as I get waylaid by detail.
c. Surface decoration - This is my main strength - I can draw and paint on canvas too, which I am beginning to get into again.
d. Functionality - Dysfunctional function has always been my trademark.
e. Type of object - Vessel based/sculptural figuration/abstract tile assemblages.

7. Why do you think it has/ hasn't changed?
I am in constant flux,so I tend to revisit ranges at various intervals reflect/review/do again.

8. How do you advertise your work/ exhibitions?
I am on various web sites Rufford and similar, in process of designing my own site.

9. What sort of places display your work;
Numerous galleries in Southwest, a few nationally, international links now being made.
I am usually approached by collectors/dealers after they have seen my work. I am no longer looking for gallery representation on this level. I supply approx. 20 galleries that I respect and trust. Interestingly these are not necessarily the top end, e.g., Creftow arts co-op has been supportive of me for over a decade now, I like the philosophy that goes with this sort of outlet. C.C.A. is another old friend.
a.Galleries - yes, more selective now though.
b.Museums - yes - shows booked until 2008.
c.Organisations - yes - C.C.A. and others.
d.Shops - Conran, Michelin House in London.

10. How many different places are displaying your work at the moment?
30 approx., Making links with Taiwan and USA at present.
a. Lighting
I am particular about the way my work is placed but running stock level does not permit me to have any say in presentation.
b. Labelling/artists statement
I always price my own retail level, always supply statement up to date CV.
c. Shelving/ plinths- colours
White.

11. Where do you sell most of you work from, are you able to make a living from
selling your work?
I sell from my showroom increasingly these days. In theory I make a good living from my work - Turnover £20,000, profit £12,000. Lecturing £12.000, Mentoring etc £2.000 per annum;

12. How important for you is it that other people like you work?
Less nowadays, you will find that your confidence grows over the years so it does not matter what people say or think about what you say or do.

13. Do you/ would you adapt your work to suit different/changing markets?
Yes, I need to make a living and am constantly aware of trends/fashion. I like to think that I am one step ahead - not sure that this is the case but I am very persuasive when I have to be.

14. What inspires you;
The extraordinary within the ordinary, most people lead mundane lives, I use this mundaneity, always have - I carry a particularly jaundiced view of the world we live in. If you look at my work closely enough you will see the messaging that lies beneath the surface.
a. Material
Whatever is appropriate to the concept/design
b. Personal Experiences/Emotions
I try not to dwell on the past but I find that it seeps into everything I do, so I have decided to lay myself on the line and be less coy and secretive about myself - risky!
c. Artists/ Art movements
I do not find inspiration within the ceramic arena - Jean DuBuffet, Laurie Anderson, Bobbie Baker, Lois Bourgeois, Chapman brothers, Gilbert and George, Tracy Emmin - anybody that is not afraid of taking risks.
d. Objects/ Architecture
Kitsch 50’s/60’s ornament, female vanity accessories, allotment sheds.
e. Landscapes/ Nature
Not really, never have time to do what artists are supposed to do, I tend to get my inspiration in places like Tescos/Club International.
f. People
I am always aware of people, body language/behaviour - special interest in Mental Health/Brain Injury.

15. Does this change much from month to month/ year to year or do you tend to
have an ongoing, constant theme; if so what is it?
My theme is myself and my view of this world, I m passionate and complex by nature, therefore I cannot predict what I might do next, I am also a workaholic, inverted perfectionist and 51 years of age, There is an urgency to everything that I do, more pronounced just lately.
I have mismanaged my life spectacularly and am now living with the consequences. I suppose all I ever do is try and make sense of it all through creative expression.

16. What do you think of craft/artwork that uses multimedia, do you think that a
person needs to have an in-depth knowledge of their medium to produce
successful work?
I am loyal to clay in that I feel that it will stand the test of time, unlike faddish fashions that come and go, personally I have little interest in glass, even though we offer it to our students. I put myself through a gruelling training and feel confident in my skewwiff knowledge of subject - I feel strongly that you have to know the rules inside out in order to be able to break them effectively - This is what I do.

17. What season do you tend to sell the most work; summer holiday season/ winter
season?
All year round really, of course I am never as ready as I should be but I am consistent in my ways and try to meet deadlines/submission dates. I do not rely on tourist trade, most of my customers have collected my work over the years. *

18. Who do you think your work has most appeal to, local people visitors to the
area?
All types, all ages. Never ceases to amaze me.

19. In your artists statement you say that your latest body of work initially derived
from an investigation into Troika and modernist principles, what was it that
particularly struck you about Troika, why did you chose it and why did it seem
relevant to you body of work?
I had an antique shop in Penzance throughout the late 70’s/early 80’s
A lot of people collected it then when it was reasonably inexpensive, I also know Maggie Fisher who was connected to a similar pottery in Newlyn. I like the naffness, the chunkiness of form, the 70’s colours.

20. Do you feel that someone who didn't know what your latest body of work was
influenced by would be able to recognise the Troika influence?
Probably not, I moved away from the obvious form/surface to give my own take on it - Post-modern reference.

21. In your artists statement you say "these vestal forms reflect my response to 'this
dream that is Cornwall'" could you explain 'this dream that is Cornwall'
further, is this your dream and how, or visitors dreams?
This is a reference to a poem that I read years ago, the title staying with me over the years -’ This Dream that is Cornwall’ is to some extent lost, Cornwall now more corporate and homogenised than ever before, no longer is it seen as slightly ‘odd’ to relocate to this outcrop of rock, so I suppose it is vaguely tongue in cheek, a wry comment on beautiful places being so popularised by myth and legend that the magic that I felt in the 60’s/70’s has now shifted into a different format - Cornwall has bee my home for 32 years now - maybe it is time to move on.

Surface Methodology and Content - Extracts from Essay 2005

2008-05-04T16:50:00.000-07:00

Dictionary definition: Surface - The outer boundary or face of anything: the outside or upper layer: that which has length and breadth but no thickness: outer appearance, character or texture.

Roget’s Thesaurus: Surface - An interesting word that can imply many things, some of which are as follows:- Shallow, no depth, superficial, light and external, usually visible and exposed which can lead to prominence especially if it is recognisable and perceivable. Everything has a surface which covers a structure that could be shape, form, constructed or skeletal, man-made or organic.

Critique of ceramic surface methodology and meaning
I have always been a surface person, always putting on a facade for the world, never really knowing or accepting myself until relatively recently. My ceramic surface is really only an extension of varied aspects of myself. During my time in the ceramics world (13 years), I have tried almost every technique there is, my quest being urgent and accelerated because I came to it so late, too late for fame and glory which is just as well, instead I have to go the ‘character forming’ route of endurance and hard work which at times I feel that I am no longer physically or mentally capable of - 20 more years if I am optimistic. Over the years certain techniques and materials have stayed with me. The following statement which I wrote 5 years ago still being relevant today:-

For me making ceramics is a compulsive act. The process is forever repetitious, frustrating, often disappointing and confusing combined with moments of intense excitement , hope, passion and desire - a love / hate relationship.
My work, whether it be tile panels, figuration or dysfunctional pots, tends to reference colour, space, memory, the occasional sexual / religious association and communication of absolute and raw emotion.
The drawing approach that I seem to have developed is part spontaneous, part contrived, part habitual. I have a tendency toward outlines, edges and dramatic overloads of colour All of these issues tend to remain constant regardless of form. In this respect I hope that my work refers to something more than just itself.
I like to think that I do more than ‘construct’ which seems to me to suggest outward looking whilst ‘create’ implies inward looking. I suppose that I do both, although for me the emphasis is very much imagination based which is then underpinned by the process of making, totally restrictive yet totally necessary. My work is my solace, my antidote to life.

I have hung onto old favourites and have learnt to adapt and evolve them over the years, using the what I see as their strengths, discarding elements that don’t quite work, replacing with better form, better marks, clearer intention. My work never remains static, this I believe is one of the reasons that I continue to ‘sell’ so well. In using this methodology I have made many, many mistakes and encountered numerous dead ends and yet still I go on and on and on. A new confidence is starting to emerge because I now feel safe in the knowledge that I will never run out new of ideas, new colour combinations, new form. Beneath the surface there is a depth, sometimes too deep and troubled to begin to fathom. I am less afraid of what lies beneath the surface nowadays, therefore there is less compulsion to cover it up or expose it, either way my work is more balanced, more meant than ever before because I am less defensive my work no longer needs to be offensive. I no longer feel personally violated by criticism because I believe totally (most of the time) in what I do. I don’t believe that life is about problems and solutions.
It is for me a series of dilemmas, dilemmas don’t have solutions but resolutions which then lead on to future dilemmas. Put simply, I was unable to escape my compulsive, obsessive disorder so I adapted it and found a use for it, added to which I calculate the market, persevere when times are hard, possess enormous tolerance and work very hard.

I make pretty but edgy objects - decorative, hand made using modern design technology and tradition combined, sometimes pleasure is involved, sometimes pain. I have always worked in multiples and see myself as a small mass production unit, safe amongst my extended, albeit dysfunctional ceramic family. I am already ‘known’ for my spot pots, face pots and tile panels. I have recently started work on a new ‘abstract’ range which is proving problematic because all my confidence goes out of the window at these formulaic stages, but I have come to realise that I will always experience times when my work becomes tentative and bitty, sometimes feeling like an absolute beginner. I am trying and failing to suggest some sort of structure combined with a nervous energy. At times like this I focus on the areas that work which gives me the very basis of a starting point. Another problem is that I quite often don’t know when to stop so I have to question whether I waste of lot of time, materials and energy. At least nowadays I realise when this is happening which is, of course half the battle. I still see the logic in building up a quick colour block, grid and line framework but I think that I have to be sure of what I want to achieve. The beginning has to be meant, otherwise I'll always end up with a few happy accidents and a lot of rejects and no money.

I continue to like the contrast between matt and gloss and the separate qualities of both glaze and slip. The ‘misting’ over with thin washes of slips works in some areas, especially contrasted to thick impasto areas. I have a tendency toward straight lines and edges and dramatic overloads of colour. The under painting is often too fidgety, and at the moment I find it difficult to see what I have ended up with. The obvious is that this latest range is closer in tone, more subtle, quieter and more effective, less obvious, all my work nowadays is mostly about colour and space although I am still holding onto my desire to use my interest in ‘ trashy kitsch baroque’ combined with quieter, more sensual passages of light and luminosity. If I succeed they will be wonderful, if not I will be left with a pile of terrible trash - what a dilemma!

Is it possible to achieve dynamic tension in an ordered format?
Perhaps if the colour and form is turbulent this could suggest tragedy and drama, destruction and calm, visual interpretation of the spiritual, perhaps a running over or flooding of colour beyond the boundary of form, so that colour can be used to open and expand the plane, maybe use it as an opposition to structure with random arrangements getting close to non objective form - an integration of line and colour on the same plane building up an inter relationship between colour and tone - light and dark values weighted with colour, the objective being pure plastic painting bearing no resemblance to anything with reference to the world of things.
I have developed a way of attacking the surface, in my case, knives, screws, pins, finger nails, damaging the surface, covering the damage and reinventing again and again, similar to my life. I conceive all my work as a unit, a whole, the quest is always the same, to move on from this point, to use this point as a vehicle to go further. To achieve a surface that can resist a first assault, the meaning never entirely within reach. Sensory as opposed to intellectual, passion and intuition playing a strong part. Sensuality of surface, a weapon against the preciousness of the traditional ‘objet d’art’. Conceptual act of of recontextualising script, in my case fragments of romantic fiction titles, the tackier the better.

The repertoire that I use in surface application carries with it all the best that has gone before. I am plagued with ideas, a compulsion to constantly move on, my biggest fault not lingering for long enough to enable resolution of problems that arise between form and surface. Just lately I am beginning to take more time on each ‘range’ that I come up with, hopefully producing work that carries integrity and depth. I have been described as decorative which proved to be a catalyst in my decision to opt for ceramics as opposed to the fine art discipline.As a women that had been, and still is immersed in an absurd and chaotic reality I am all too aware that ‘endurance’ is one of my biggest strengths. In my undergraduate years this ‘strength’ led me to focus on issues such as female identity as masquerade, the good mother/whore dichotomy, the myths and symbols of the heroic, virtuous mother, suburban drudgery and sexual violation and the irony of dress and body language. My life being an endless cycle of repetition as is the ceramic pursuit. Repetition somehow erodes the possibility of change, expressions of everyday existence transformed into lurid soap opera - self indulgent and emotionally starved.

My ‘ceramic’ ornaments’ fit into popular culture and are tacky but affectionate. I choose hobby craft glazes, colours banal, application casual, almost errors, spontaneous and expressive - a response to the mass production of commodities, also representing the failure to control. The feeling of frivolity and lightness is superficial, the body language being that of despair. They could be seen as sloppy and vulgar, I see them as a portrayal of life in this time, little weapons used against the traditional ‘objet art’. A story of human life lived in a dark time. I tend to work with the ritual and mundane, exploring concepts of female identity, sexuality, the family, the domestic, my aim being not to shock, just to sift through in an attempt to make sense. Each of my pots/figures/tile panels tells a story, often autobiographical, sometimes based on tabloid news. The emptiness of consumerism of which I play a part as does my customer - double income, middle class collectors of gorgeous little things.

The surface of each pot is layered with meaning, uncomfortable and awkward. I am realistic in that I find a balance between technique and concept. I need to make a living from what I make. Pots sell in a way that video installations do not, (perversion to match the wallpaper). Handicraft is the ‘theme’, added to which is my perverse enjoyment of the perceived low status of craft set within the apparent safety of the domestic interior - a conversation piece! I have always suffered from low self esteem and fear of failure. People have sometimes commented that my style is sometimes contradictory moving from freely expressive to tight, anal precision. This is because my personality is multi faceted and my art is just a natural extension of this. I cannot disconnect my reality from my obsessive need to make. I am a performer, a bit showy and theatrical - so is my work. The act of making, decorating, firing, is all a performance, quite literally which I love, total focus, loneliness, claustrophobia, restrictiveness, obsessive making - potting or therapy?

Marjon Boot states that decorative art is defined by its lack of content, this may be so in the majority of cases but there are a few like myself that are searching for a vehicle on which to place the content. Ceramic is not ideal, but possible, more of a challenge than other materials, plus I really do believe that decorative things are really important and that we should not underestimate their value. Usage is another important aspect for me. I personally would rather ‘own’ a well made, well though out pot than a second rate painting that masquerades as ‘high art’

Ceramic Art Motives and technical information

2008-05-03T15:17:00.000-07:00

My style, now as always, is loosely based upon my interpretation of the corruption of the human soul, the last 16 years spent experimenting with clay, heat and surface chemicals, with which I chronicle the tragedy of disquietened human life. I tend to hand build, multi fire and multi layer to which I add elements of concept and narrative within both form and surface.
My motive remains constant regardless of form in that the goal is to consistently achieve a tension of opposites within the combined material presence and the cerebral concept.
In this respect, I hope that my work refers to something more than just ‘itself’.

Technical

My work is multi fired and multi layered, using a combination of reactive / inactive porcelain slips, fritted slips, my own glaze formula’s and commercial low fire glazes and lustre's. The clay is cut semi-randomly (freehand) from soft slabs that are placed on a variety of hump moulds to which I add angled sheets of clay, which are then manipulated and distorted.

Ceramic process, has throughout history/prehistory, carried the potential for expressive visual surface, using heat works and chemical formula’s to achieve the brilliance and richness of vitrified, fused glass surface that is uniquely associated with this special art/craft medium. I like to think that I am providing my marketplace with nifty little post-modern interpretations of domestic ornament for the home.

The preparation of form and surface is surprisingly complex considering that simplicity is the goal. Of late I have become immersed in the exploration of the sometimes alarming dichotomy between surface and form. Always prone to excess, I manipulate to the point of collapse and then rebuild adding more and more surface detail with each firing, a complex and forever challenging process that I am immersed in.

I use a white porcelain/dense, saturating black and coloured ground slip which is poured on when the form is leather hard, to achieve a luminous/saturated canvas on which to place my chosen palette of colour. Large brushes loaded with corresponding; sometimes clashing coloured slips are then dragged across the base coat in random stripes and circles. I then flick, splash and draw through these layers, quick line drawings that expose and respond to what lies beneath and goes before.

The ‘marks’ are not meant to be a literal interpretation, and are perhaps best described as organic abstract in notion and intent. My surfaces are now more to do with colour, line and space as opposed to angst and despair, although reference to figuration and narrative are always present.

I rub additional oxides and pigments into the surface before bisque firing to 1000’c after which they are usually glazed on the interior surface as I want to encourage usage. I then fire to 1120’c.The exterior surface is purposely contrasted between matte and gloss. Stone like and tactile in nature, onto which I place, in selected areas, bright, often gaudy, synthetic looking colour and fire again to 1000’ c, the final firing being taken to 747’c, for the precious metals and lustre's that are used to highlight ‘handles’ and to detail small areas, hopefully suggesting hideous preciousness and gorgeousness.