Martin has always been fascinated by the Japanese idea of ‘beauty in imperfection’ and he takes huge pleasure in exploring the simple vessel and everything that it represents. In his most recent work, Martin takes a nuanced approach to the simple clay forms of jars and bowls as he reflects on what a major cultural change it must have been when we began to store and share food in those simple forms. Other new work grows in geological like layers, sometimes with quartz and precious stone or glass-looking inclusions – overlaid as if by running lava.
“What I am looking for in my work… lies in the essential beauty of individual pieces, which is subjective, difficult to define, control or repeat and has something to do with chance and coincidence.”
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