The head of the ceramic department in Morley College arranged this tour. I was invited by Eduardo, and I was studying there during the time, even in different class.
It was an exciting experience to get into V&A Museum after its opening hours, which was like a treasure hunting. After security checked, we were gave a temporary visiting card, and followed our guide into a path normally behind scenes. To get to the ceramic department in the higher floor, we past glass department. I will definitely go there in day time again. I found those glasses were exquisite by just one glimpse.
Right, back to ceramic, our guide introduced his background and residency in V&A, which reminded me that residency could be a way to stay abroad after graduation. Even I am not confident about myself at all.
Then we visited Simon Carroll's exhibition.
There is a strong sense of freedom, wildness and energy in Simon's work. They are not traditionally elegant or beautiful, but they are really attracting somehow. You might think there are many random, untidy details on the work, however these details are not chaotic.
For instance, I think this chocolate and white vase has a nice arrangement of weight and proportion of colour. And those brown brush stocks are just beautifully placed, revealing the confidence of the artist.
The following images show the permanent collection of the museum.
These are some ancient terracotta vases. The pattern on them are just adorable. I realise that I really like things to do with circle, curve, sphere, and etc.
This metallic pomegranate red can be one of my favourite colour. It is a shame that it is not safe to use it in my project.
This black one is huge and powerful. I wonder how it was made.
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| Vase with flowers and strawberries in pate-sur-pate France, Sevres, 1852 hard-paste, porcelain, painted with white slip and gilded. |
Look at the thin, semi-transparent plant pieces made of porcelain that have been stuck on this greenish vase, they are so exquisite. They remind me snow, ice and things in the mist that are going to disappear at anytime.
Compared to the rest of the work, this one is quite simple. While I love the small, almost invisible detail coming down from the edge, which is a engraved line and circle.
This is Richard Slee's work, which I will tale about them later in another post. I am using similar colours like his, so I think his work would be a nice reference. And we all have a weirdness in our work.
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| Lucie Rie (1902-95) Vase 1967, Stoneware, thrown, using partially mixed pigmented clays, then squared-off and glazed. The colour emerged softly from the body during firing. |
This work reminded me why I tried to use body stain at beginning, though I didn't keep doing it and push further. I think it is because that my design was not clear, and body stain tests are time consuming. So If I do not know exactly what kind of effect I want, it is easy to get lost. I truly like this kind of soft and mature colour, like rosy mist. Apart from Lucie Rie's work, I also like Elspeth Owen and Jennifer Lee's. It seems they used a lot of natural dyes which can give these kind of colour. So when I did experiments with commercial dye, the results were not satisfying. Also, it may to do with the way I mixed them, or the results were not fit the design during then, or simply because I didn't do enough tests.
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| Three legged form Jacqueline Poncelet, 1947- Stoneware, hand-built, with inlaid coloured clays and enamels. |
This work has a curious form. Together with its colour and pattern, there is a sense of Turkey and exotic beauty. The colour is quite Turkish to me, probably because of the turquoise in the work. The shape of it is like some kind of Turkish hat, and the pattern reminds me Turkish characters.
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| Red Twisted Form, 2012 Merete Rasmussen, 1974- Stoneware, hand-built, with sprayed matt red glaze. |
'The even matt surface of Merete Rasmussen's sculptures, each a single intense colour, allows the complexity of their forms to be revealed.
I always am fascinated by the complex organic form in her work. Another artist Eva Hild also did some splendid works like this. I just cannot stop myself trying to find where do the form start and end.
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| Form 1113: Twisting Back, Multiplying, 2011 Harumi Nakashima, 1950- Glazed porcelain, with decoration in blue. |
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| Form-Series 1,2005 Guac Roh-Hoon, 1959- Mixed clay |
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| Yorkshire, designed 1976 Hornsea Pottery Stoneware, slip-cast, wax-resist spray |
It was an amazing tour, and I wondered why I didn't go to this department, not even once. By reviewing what I have seen this night, I did get some inspiration.
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