Loraine Rutt

Loraine’s background as a map maker informs her ceramics practice. Clay provides a tangible connection to the earth’s surface, through which her work explores how maps shape our sense of place and belonging. Relief maps and domestic-scale vessels are decorated with cartographically accurate drawings. By playing with scale and volume—whether through a pocket globe that places the world in the palm of the hand, or topography with amplified relief—her work addresses specific themes, including environmental and social inequality, and monumental journeys.

Her practice is honed through three decades of intimate engagement with clay. Many works begin as sculpted, topographically accurate porcelain models, which are then translated—primarily in porcelain—using slip casting or press moulding from plaster moulds. Fine line work is carved into the surface of the leather-hard clay with custom-made needle tools, creating precise, map-like definition. Once dry, the clay is painted with oxides and stains, which wash into the incised lines and textured relief.

Loraine is fascinated by the liminal traces of geographical experience revealed through maps, and by ceramics as a commemorative medium. Drawing on traditions of souvenirs, domestic ware, and studio pottery, her work functions as a means of sharing stories of place.