Deiniol is another potter who has been most generous with his time for us motley students. He gave us a zoom talk illustrated with powerpoint, leading us through his journey as a potter from boyhood in Wales, through college in Cardiff, University in Manchester, time in the Peak District and now a larger studio in West Yorkshire, where he can also teach - though not in lockdown!. He has made functional tableware, plain and printed tiles, and now is increasingly interested in artwork with cracks and holes - "letting the light come through" . Again, we watched a video of him preparing the clay and then throwing a piece, and then had the opportunity to ask questions. For Deiniol, place is very important. It finds its way into his work both through materials and inspiration -often unconscious. For instance he said that after his move to Yorkshire he felt compelled to make the tall bottle shapes shown in the middle picture. He only became aware of the underlying motivational drive when in conversation with a customer he remarked on now being surrounded by industrial chimneys -and suddenly understood. More deliberately he has always been interested in using local materials to make the clays and glazes and now wedges into the clay stone inclusions that come from places that have personal meaning to him.
Deiniol described himself as 'happy to be a hermit'. He seems to manifest other characteristics of an enclosed life; he has chosen a mode of work which does not come easily to him and then made it more difficult by adding stone inclusions. He is in a "discourse with the clay" sometimes "battling with it". He commented that he was "wandering around with a half dead torch" and "in a shady boundary between art and craft". He is aware of his own tendency to obsessionaly test and to try and control, and explained that adding clay inclusions had forced him to loosen up his style and to adapt. Coversely he also enjoys and celebrates the "happy accidents" and is prepared to tolerate the large losses, even at greenware, that these methods entail. We had an interesting discussion with Deiniol about the merits of naming pieces or provinding a commentary. He compulsively numbers and catalogues but says he has moved away from giving titles (" they can get in the way"), though seems to feel under pressure to provide them. This not work I would wish to buy, but I now appreciate it much better and certainly empathise with the comments about his relationship with clay -and even doing battle with it!
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This class discussion was based around a performance art film of Grace Han. She is a South Korean potter who now lives in Canada. In the film she dresses in traditional Korean costume and makes a large Onggi pot using traditional methods. During the process she discards items of dress one by one untill she wearing a western style vest top and leggings. On completing the pot she destroys it - "it has done its job"
We had a good deal of discussion around cultural identity and restrictions, her expressed ambivilence about moving from Korea, and about what making a piece of ceramic means to us as individuals. Is it enough to make things simply to please yourself? Is it self indulgence? If making art is therapeutic, is therapy self indulgent? I am still thinking about that one and am prepared now to discuss at length! After discussing this short film we were signposted to another film of Grace Han, this time of her giving a 'First Friday' lecture as part of Mentoring Artists for Women's Art (MAWA) programme at the University in Winnipeg Manitoba. It became clear that she has not abandoned making Onggi pots following her move but that her ability to make these very large pots was raising questions in the Canadian cultural context, and that the ability of other women to do something similar was also met with sceptisism and curiosity. She conducted some structured interviews, did some basic analysis and drew on her own experience in her investigation, resulting in the presentation 'Women Strength and Clay. What were the messages from her investigation? They were that women are as able to make a good an Onggi pot as men because success depends on training, a good eye, technique, a good understanding of the material and the right tools. In order to carry on making such pots its good to be able to focuss on them, have sufficient studio space and to maintain the strength and skill. Women, because of lack of time, competing demands of family and cultural expectations are more likely to give up this type of ceramic practice, but its not inevitable. The following film on the website was 'the Art of Aging' which as a retired Geriatrician I had to watch! I will go back to that one. We were priviledged to have a seminar session with Stuart Carey as part of our lockdown online meetings. Stuart is a young potter who has had the most amazing portfolio career in ceramics. He makes functional ware (see below) - an area renowned to be difficult to make money in. He has sold through both large and smaller stores, undertaken commissions, but also recorded 'how to' videos, written books, and started membership ceramic studios. The Kiln Rooms in London was the second of these. We watched a video recording of a talk he gave at Ceramic Art London a few years ago and then were able to ask him questions. Stuart was very generous with both his time and his advice. It covered tricky areas such as how to pitch and price your work, the relationship with galleries and buyers, and how to build resilience in to your career. He also emphasised points made by others that we probably all need repeating regularly -do what you really want to do, insist on quality, look carefully at your work, review and learn. I took lots of notes and now have no excuse! Thank you Stuart. . |
AuthorI am indulging my passion for ceramics by undertaking studies for an MA at UCLAN Archives
August 2021
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