Jed M. Cook. ‘Treasure of the Post-Apocalypse’. March 2020 to present “An ongoing series born from a lifelong seaglass beachcombing habit, aggravated by lockdowns. Before this series, my love was still-life painting, particularly the glass-ridden tablescapes of everyday life. I longed to mimic the beguiling lustrous qualities of unassuming sauce bottles and pint glasses. Subsequently concluding to use glass directly I interrogated the diverse constituents of my collections: colours, forms, patterns and patina. Arranging these elements, colourful shards proxying pigments, painting without paint, palette determined by history and tides. Every expedition onto the shore a voyage of discovery, every piece found, uniform in its uniqueness, carries its own story and treasure, a celebration of erstwhile castoff local debris, a subversion of the usual connotations of what it is to be broken. Co-opting something of the language of archaeology, the work draws on motifs from antiquity, mosaics and stained glass, contrasted with conspicuously modern preservation materials and techniques. I find compelling the inversion of these once-containers now becoming the contained, synthetic in origin but nature-shaped, the individual fragments under resin becoming cells under the microscope, the jewelled artefact in the case, simultaneously primordial and futuristic, pristine and junk. The series has so far evolved through a variety of mediums, moving from flatlay and photography, to direct casting of glass finds in transparent resins, more recently growing to include stained glass sculpture with lead solder”
Sue Woodroffe, Ceramicist “I am a potter, I completed a Fine Arts degree, concentrating mainly on ceramics. I use a variety of clays in my work - earthenware and stoneware, utilising the differing properties of colour, coarseness, workability and firing ranges. I tend to use an electric kiln for my firings, but also enjoy the lesser predictability that is raku gas firing. The raku process can be exciting in its variety of finishes and effects. I like to run two types of work together, Sculptural work, for which the natural environment is a large part of my inspiration. Taking forms, colours, and textures from the natural world, rock formation, plants, lichen, mosses that grow on and give colour and texture to the landscape. I also take a lot of inspiration from the area of the foreshore local to me. Again the textures of the shadows and reflections and also the effect of the man made structures on the landscape are all so interesting. The second part of my practice is domestic production. Creating pieces that are used in the hand on a regular basis gives me great pleasure. Experimenting with form for function gives some discipline and can be a good exercise. Using a variety of materials in my work gives me the opportunity to experiment with how they will react with and against each other. The process of exploiting the attributes of the clays, glazing materials and firing processes can yield great and exciting effects resulting in new and interesting working processes.”
Kizzie-Mai "I am an illustrator and ceramicist, my work is my way of processing the world around me, I am inspired by queer culture, nature and surrealism. I take the small details from the everyday that capture my attention and follow that. I think it’s important to pay attention to the smallest inspirations as you never know where that could lead."
