Clay in Conversation 7: Connection
Clay in Conversation runs in partnership with the Ceramics Research Centre-UK (CREAM), University of Westminster and is held at:
University of Westminster, Regent Street, London, W1B 2HW
The curated conversations provide a platform for presentation, dialogue and discovery, bringing together a diverse range of artists with a practice using clay and ceramics.
Each conversation centres on a specific theme - acting as a lens through which the artists will present a piece of work or project. The conversations offer the opportunity to dig deeper into the work, exploring it formally, materially and conceptually, from the perspective of the artists themselves.
The presentations are followed by a Q&A session with the audience.
Clay in Conversation is curated by artist Julia Ellen Lancaster @juliaellenlancaster_ceramics in partnership with the Ceramics Research Centre-UK (CREAM), University of Westminster https://cream.ac.uk/
For this seventh conversation and kicking off 2024 we are pleased to present artists Harriet Hellman and Jess Skelton
Harriet Hellman is primarily a process-led ceramic artist working in response to the environment and landscape. Having completed an MA in Ceramics and Glass at the Royal College of Art in 2020, she has gone on to exhibit her work internationally and has been awarded ceramic residencies in Denmark, UK, Ireland and Japan. She was also shortlisted for the Sustainability First Art Prize 2021.
The process of wood firing using Anagama and soda kilns while on a residency in Denmark has taken Harriet on a new journey, allowing her to embrace the alchemy of the kiln and develop her practice both in the UK and abroad.
Harriet continues to explore ‘human’ time versus ‘deep’ time in nature, through embodied and performative making practices in ceramics, drawing, photography and film.
@harriet_ceramics
Jess Skelton makes abstract sculptural work, sourced in the idea and form of the vessel. Final pieces ‘emerge’ rather than being planned, through a process of disruption and risk taking. Skelton is beguiled by what lies beneath the shiny veneers society often presents us with, preferring the honesty of the shadow places and derelict spaces. She is particularly drawn to old boatyards, where she finds a kind of beauty, witnessing both the precarious existence and innovative natures, of those who live beyond the bounds of convention.
She considers herself to be consciously ‘winging it’ in the sense that her work survives being pushed to its’ limits in the making processes, then melting, collapsing and fusing in the kiln to form a final identity, which although is of her making, is ultimately beyond her control.
@jess.skelton.ceramics
Tessa Peters is Senior Lecturer in the History and Theory of Art at University of Westminster, an Associate Lecturer at CSM, a researcher, writer and independent curator. Her curatorial projects include Cultural Icons for the British Ceramics Biennial at the Potteries Museum, Stoke-on-Trent, and Hove Museum & Art Gallery in 2019-2020. Since 2020 she has facilitated a series of inclusive cross-cultural dialogues, assisting an understanding of issues faced by ceramics practices in different global regions.
@UoW_CREAM
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