Sophie MacCarthy and Richard Phethean’s established careers have embraced bold decoration and a joyous approach to colour through the use of slip on their earthenware pieces. In this exhibition Sophie’s classic forms and intricate stencil decoration sit well together with Richard’s meticulous abstract designs on curious constructed shapes.
Their passion for design and colour, alongside the similarities in their making process creates a complimentary combination of works that are a delight to see in this exhibition.
Sophie’s pieces, using a mixture of stencils and brushstrokes on traditional forms, appear to create movement and depth within each decoration. Floating leaves swim in front of your eyes upon her carefully crafted plates while birds rest on branches within wheel thrown mugs.
Richard’s forms stand proudly – each one so full of character that his abstract decoration could be likened to clothes draped across each piece.
Together Sophie MacCarthy and Richard Phethean celebrate a bold and joyous approach to colour through the use of slip on their earthenware pieces.
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Jenny Southam hand builds figurative sculptures in terracotta clay. She delights in exploring colourful gestural mark-making over their surfaces. This painterly decoration aims to echo the emotional resonance of each piece.
“When I enter the studio I am searching for that serene state of absolute absorption that making and drawing can gift us, which we all wish will, in some manner, enrich our audience.” – Jenny Southam
In a career spanning nearly 50 years, ceramicist, Sophie MacCarthy has developed a unique and distinctive personal style. Through her subtle and bold use of coloured slips, painterly brushwork, stencils and wax-resist, she evokes the colours, forms and movements of the passing seasons. Often focusing on the ground, she finds beauty in the accidental compositions created by wind-blown leaves, stalks and detritus sometimes gathered around a storm drain or scattered over concrete and tarmac, juxtaposing the vibrant colours of the natural world with the gritty textures of the urban environment.
‘She has a poetic insight into the natural world’ David Whiting
Throughout his long career Peter has always sought pathways to the development of new ideas. Often this is a slow process, but sometimes a particular event speeds things along.
Partaking of two residencies in China recently, where Peter worked in porcelain at high temperatures, led him to develop a new body of work, made alongside his existing practice to which Peter is still deeply committed.
This new exhibition represents the outcome of Peter’s working practice.
'This exhibition explores objects that express a quiet equilibrium: fragile, shifting forms that exist in a state of delicate imbalance. Their stillness is easily disturbed, as if the act of holding too tightly might cause something essential to disappear. The works reflect an interest in forms that resist perfection, remaining slightly unresolved, unsettled, and quietly alive.' Akiko Hirai