Claudia trained as a painter but transferred to pots because she found the turning surface sympathetic to an unfolding visual narrative. Stories are her raw material – both her own and other people’s, also fictional stories, songs, and poetry. The human, cultural, and historic associations of pottery connect particularly well to the work she does interpreting women’s histories and contemporary lives. The nature of pots is that they can break, and so can be mended. This she finds to be a compelling metaphor for both trauma and survival – the mending has an optimistic quality.
She uses a combination of black stoneware and red earthenware which is mixed to produce the desired ground colour – like painting on a coloured canvas. There are no limits on the ceramic palette: slips give her all the colours, tones, and saturation she needs. Sgraffito gives her all the variation in line quality and weight she needs. Her pots are clear glazed for protection and to clarify the tone and colour. All Claudia’s pots are hand-built using coil, slab, or pinch-pot methods.
The shattered pots are rebuilt using conservation grade adhesive and gold, platinum, or aluminium leaf is used to gild the edges of shards to frame the internal images or emphasise a broken line.
