Handmade in Britain 14
Date: 9 - 11 May 2014
Historically porcelain has long been associated with properties of sound, especially in the Orient. My slipcast porcelain bowls ‘sing’ when tapped. They can be arranged in pitch order, or to play a melody and as individual notes. Elements of sound resonate in material, form and surface.
Surface imagery is inspired by my deep interest in music, with focus on composers who use birdsong in their compositions. Nightingales, blackbirds, quails, cuckoos and larks have captured composers’ imaginations. I have been particularly inspired by Olivier Messiaen, Ludwig van Beethoven and Ralph Vaughan Williams. In this series of work I have concentrated on Messiaen’s ‘Abime des Oiseaux’, where he uses the sound of a blackbird. Inspiration has also evolved from the blackbird who scuttles around, foraging for food outside my ceramic studio.
These ‘singing’ slipcast porcelain bowls range in size from 47 – 8 cms in width and £450 to £18 in price.
Barbara will be exhibiting her ‘Birdsong’ Porcelain with a selected group from London Potters Organisation at:
Contemporary Crafts & Design Fair
Chelsea Old Town Hall,
King’s Road
London
SW3 5EE