Jo Davies
I have been working with clay for around 25 years, in the last 15 of those I have been making wheel-thrown objects exclusively using porcelain. The shapes I make change and evolve much more frequently than the surfaces, which largely remain constant. My interest is in shape and form and how domestic objects can be evolved to be subtly different to the items we’re used to, along with how things feel in the hands. During the time I’ve been working with clay it has become a second language to me, its behaviours and needs are very familiar, so the processes I use, namely the potter’s wheel, have become part of the creative imagining of the things I make.
In many ways the inspiration for my work is multiple small details. A design often starts with the consideration of a single functional object - like a ladle or a small pouring jug - or even an aspect of a functional object - like a pouring lip or the way a cup is held - and I’ll evolve this thought into something with increased tactility or simplicity. The process of evolving one of my designs is only ever done on the wheel, I don’t draw new shapes before making them as they’re already visualised, and sketching them on the wheel is now faster for me.
It’s important that the things I make have a fluidity to them, a little like they might still be wet clay, just off the wheel, with their simple surfaces allowing the shape to be the main event. Sometimes I will include a second colour or surface treatment but this will also be about enhancing the shape and the marking will be unique to that object. In the development of these objects the way that people will eventually use them guides me, an anticipation of how the object will be held and used always influences the final outcomes.
I make things that are designed to be absorbed into our lives, to be used and to enhance our everyday moments - cups should feel good to hold, they should be inviting, they should be the right weight; bowls and platters should frame food and be generous.
I am based in Herefordshire, returning to this area after growing up here, but spent 15 plus years in London, initially to attend the Royal College of Art but then to continue to build my practice. I spend my time making my range of work, creating commissions with private clients and as a named-designer with companies like Union Coffee and Mulberry. I am also passionate about sharing my knowledge so I also teach and my first book was published last year.
Siwan Gillick
My paintings use abstraction as a method and landscape experience as a source. I never set out knowing what the finished piece will ever look like; that is not the point. I have to ‘find’ the painting through the processes of mark making and the layering and removing of paint.
Maybe no picture can capture what I comprehend of the landscape but, as a painter, I endeavour to try. I do this by finding and controlling a pictorial space; something that translates a truth about the underlying pattern of things.
