Anne B - Ceramicist

Anne  trained in ceramics in the University of Ulster and the University of Wales in Cardiff and works from her studio in Northern Ireland

There is much reminiscent of archaeology, geology and architecture in her porcelain sculptures which explore relationships between process, material and the passage of time. My sculptures are inspired by the structure and dissolution of the organic and manmade. They are constructed , layered , excavated, deconstructed, collapsed and fragmented  to reveal associations between cultural and individual memory as well as contrasting qualities such as strength and fallibility. 

Anne’s working method is intrinsically connected to the act of making and the endless experimentation with the changing state of parian porcelain; as a liquid or solid in both in its raw and fired state. A wide palette of techniques, which include casting, hand-building and cyanotype print, are continually being challenged and developed to contrast the precision of industrial techniques and geometric structure with the fallibility of the handmade. The sculptures are fired multiple times and explore concepts associated to the fired density of parian as well as its satin, marble-like quality when solid, its gravity and stratification when layered and its delicate fabric-like flowing translucency when thin.

The vessels are inspired by the light and shadows cast in the urban environment. Abstract marks of coloured porcelain are transferred onto thin sheets of porcelain, which are then cut, layered, assembled. The translucent quality of porcelain evidences this making process and allows the shadows of layers to be seen. Many years in Asia has also influenced the work. The Japanese aesthetics and sentiments regarding natural transience, distortion and fallibility of material and process is evident in the work.