Richard Winfield

Charlo

tte As

prey

Transformation

WenHsi Harman

Martin Harman

‘Why do these makers choose to work

with clay?

‘Transformation’ is an attempt to

raise awareness of clay’s ability to

undergo intimate manipulation and

subsequent physical changes using

heat, as an expression of our ideas and

feelings, made solid.

These artists share their personal

thoughts and feelings about this

process.

Ceramics as a discipline is constantly

being challenged. It has battled

long and hard to be ‘elevated’ from

perceptions of it as a craft up into the

’higher’ echelons of the Fine Arts.

The medium we use to express our ideas

may seem irrelevant, particularly in

a digital age, as new technologies are

changing the way we interact with and

transform materials.

Charlotte Asprey, Martin Harman,

Wen-Hsi Harman and Richard

Winfield discuss their motivation for

continuing to work with clay. For these

artists clay is the fluid starting point,

‘transformation’ describes the process;

the outcome is derived from something

intangible from within, frozen in three-

dimensional reality.

This exhibition brings together four

ceramists who work with clay.

Transformation

Ceramics is an unpredictable and

ancient art form that has – over

the course of 25,000 years – found

expression in a myriad forms, surfaces,

firings and creative ways of working

the clay into previously unimagined

states. This is what motivates me to

use the medium and why I choose

to work with it. The never-ending

potential of clay to experiment and

produce realistic or fantasy creations,

by using tools and my hands, gives

me the satisfaction of fashioning

something from nothing. To carve and

sculpt detail into the clay is a significant

and fundamental part of what excites

me about this medium. Clay can either

overcome you or you can overcome

it: it is this continual challenge, and

the promise of accomplishment and

fulfilment when all the elements come

together, that keeps me connected with

my chosen medium.

Charlotte Asprey

Charlotte Asprey

My practice explores the idea of the

fragility of nature, using ceramic and

glass to highlight the delicacy and

vulnerability of our environment, our

climate and our planet. In particular,

I have chosen to use the image of

the tree, both as a figurative and as

an emblematic representation of our

potential for damaging and destroying

the world in which we live. In my work

I employ the tree to portray not just

natural life but also our relationship

and dependency on nature: the tree

has the potential to supply us with

light, heat, building material and

much more, if we use it sensibly rather

than greedily. Over and above this, the

motif of ‘The Tree of Life’ (which also

has religious overtones) serves as a

metaphor for our common descent in

the evolutionary sense. By destroying

the tree, we destroy ourselves. The

tree – recreated in the fragile media

of glass and clay – highlights our

potential for wanton and thoughtless

destruction of not just natural beauty

but also of the things we depend on

for our continuing existence.

(UK +44) 07704 912319

crasprey@ntlworld.com

www.pinterest.com/charlasprey

Education2013 – 2014 Masters, Design: Ceramics, University of Bath Spa

2010 – 2013 BA (Hons), Art Practice, University of Glamorgan

Wood and metal, painting, printmaking, ceramics, life drawing

2007 – 2010 A Levels, New College

Art & design, Art History, Business Studies

2002 – 2007 GCSE, Nova Hreod

Art & Design, Physical Education, English, Drama, Maths,

Science

Creative Work Experience

Teaching Assistant, University of Glamorgan

Provided a role model and assisted the Ceramics lecturer in giving sixth

formers an experience using clay to create sculptural forms in ceramics.

September 2012

Teaching Assistant, Nova Hreod

I had the opportunity to work in the Art department gaining experience of,

and an insight into, secondary teaching.

June 2012

Mentor, Live Project module, University of Glamorgan

Whilst in a team, mentoring foundation students in a live Paper Engineering

Project, supporting them throughout the project and resulting in an

exhibition.February 2012

Working with an artist, Community and school Project

I have completed many art projects outside school, including a Youth Centre

summer project working with local artist Toni Robinson and children at

Orchid Vale Primary School, Swindon.

July 2007

Student, Hospital Project, Nova Hreod

Working with a group of students to create art work for the children’s

department in Great Western Hospital, Swindon

April 2004

ExhibitionsHolburne Museum

Holburne Museum, Bath

10th – 24th October 2014

Master’s degree show

University of Bath Spa, Bath

19th September – 24th September 2014

Graduate Exhibition

Wales Millennium Centre, Wales

6th September – 24th December 2013

Colony 13 CardiganCardigan, Wales 10th – 26th August 2013

CFTHIRTYSEVEN.University of Glamorgan 2013

BA Degree show8th – 14th June 1013

2Oriel y Bont, Pontypridd

2012

Why is clay

important

for you

Clay is an embodiment of earth, life

and the experience of living. This

immediate environment interacts and

shapes our lives. I find this material

interesting to work with because of

these associations. It has endless

potential and possibility and can be

made to look like anything.

I like the feel of clay when I am

shaping it with my hands throughout

the making process, as it is a sensory

experience. I feel personally connected

to the material as I am in direct

contact with it.

It forces me to be conscious of my

actions as clay directly responds to

the way you treat it. I enjoy working

with this material as it requires me

to be patient, learn and to strive to

constantly improve my skill.

Clay makes me realize that humans

are limitless and that ideas can

become a reality.

Martin Harman

The historical monument Stonehenge and the immediate built environment provide a conduit to evoke a reimagining of these two subjects that exists in the artworks I create.

By observing these two influences I became aware of certain experiences. Reality is not solid it is what you make of it. It is constantly reshaped theoretically and visually from the past, present and future. It shapes how I understand the world but it also evokes questions and new ways of seeing it.

I translate this perspective by constructing geometric forms. They are combined together to reveal inside and outside space and are enhanced by the application of line and colour.

The works evoke curiosity. There is freedom for the audience to interpret the work in a way that is unique to them.

(UK +44) 07805 623048

martindharman@gmail.com

www.martinharman.weebly.comMartin Harman

Copyright Martin Harman

Education2010 – 2012 MA Ceramics, Merit, UWIC Cardiff School of Art and Design,

UK

2007 – 2010 BA (Hons) 2:1, Three Dimensional Design Ceramics, UCA,

Farnham, UK

Creative Work Experience

2014 ▎

- Materiality, 44AD Gallery, Bath, UK

- Tranquil selected for the inclusion in the Fringe Art Bath Open Prize, UK

2013 ▎

- Juxtaposed selected for the 161st Annual Open Exhibition, RWA, Bristol,

UK.- Sunrise & Contain selected for the Competitive Exhibition of the 8th

International Biennial of Ceramics presented by the City of Kapfenberg,

Austria

2012 ▎

- Construction 1 & 2 selected for 53 Degrees North, The New School House

Gallery, York, UK

- Construction 1 & 2 selected for Great Summer Exhibition, Butetown

History & Arts Centre, Cardiff, Wales, UK

2010 ▎

- New Designers, London, UK

- Rising Stars, New Ashgate Gallery, Farnham, UK

Awards2014 ▎

Juxtaposed awarded with the Bristol First Collective as part of a joint

recipient award for the 161st Annual Open Exhibition, RWA, Bristol

Symposia attended

2009 ▎

ISCAEE, Ceramic Biennial, Incheon, South Korea, ceramic artwork

exhibited

2008 ▎

ISCAEE, Ceramic Biennial, Kenya, ceramic artwork exhibited, National

Museum

Publications

2013 ▎

Aesthetica-The Art & Culture Magazine, December/January 2013, Issue 50

artists' directory, p141

Why is clay important

for youEarly memories are so important.

I am still pleased by the smell of

terracotta. Imagination stimulated

by the handling and use of plasticine.

The frustration of seeing materials

and equipment at school but not

being allowed to use them; frustrating

boundaries being set by parents

who wouldn’t have wanted ‘the

mess’. Falling in love with a beautiful

ethereal art teacher who showed us a

pot before and after glazing. A friend’s

mother who never acknowledged me

but made amazing pots at her home.

I didn’t know it then but I developed

the need to be involved with this

material just in order to exist.

Clay affords transformation. Soft to

hard; primitive to refined; lacking

order to thoughtful and considered.

These qualities allow for the possibility

of psychological transformations. A

cheap, abundant and unvalued material

becomes useful for human function,

relatively scarce and valued. Beauty

emerges from plainness and there are

seemingly endless possibilities.

However, it is the elusive nature of

this transformation which drives me

onward. Working with clay has a high

failure rate and yet it is amazingly

accessible. The balance between my

attempts to control and the natural

forces of physics and chemistry in the

presence of so many variables act as my

carrot and stick.

Richard Winfield

Richard WinfieldFor some time I have been interested

in the two-dimensional depiction of

three-dimensional form. This seems

to have been about metaphorically

cutting through things with the

intention of revealing an inner beauty.

For some time, this took the form of

an abstract representation of maps

and geological phenomena on platters

and plates intended for display.

Perhaps this is the influence of an

earlier life as a geography student, but

I do remember staring at maps and

broken rocks as a child.

My current work as an MA student

studying ceramics at Bath Spa

University has allowed me to explore

an expansion of these ideas of beauty,

structure and revelation in a more

three-dimensional way.

What seems to be important is

allowing a balance between my

desire for control of outcome and

the beneficial influence of natural

variables involved in the ceramic

process which usually come to a head

in the final firing. A combination of

conceived and natural beauty.

(UK +44) 07769 837933

rjwinfield@hotmail.com

www.richardwinfield.co.uk

Education2013 – present MA Ceramics. Bath Spa University. Ongoing.2001 – 2004 BA (Hons.) Three Dimensional Design (Ceramics). Bath Spa University. First.1983 – 1984 PgD Information Systems. Portsmouth Polytechnic. Distinction

1978 – 1981 BA (Hons.) Geography. Nottingham University. 2:IExhibitions2013 ▎ - Flux at 44AD. 44AD Gallery, Bath- Hospitality. Bath Abbey, Bath2012 ▎ - British Craft Trade Fair, Harrogate2010 ▎

- Leith Gallery, Edinburgh- Pure Space Gallery, Beijing- Ceramic Art London. Royal College of Art, London- British Craft Trade Fair, Harrogate- Gallerytop, Matlock 2008 ▎

- Potfest South West, Frome- Potfest in the Park, Hutton-in-the-Forest, Penrith2007 ▎

- Potfest in the Pens, Penrith- Potfest South West, Frome2006 ▎

- Potfest in the Park, Hutton-in-the-Forest, Penrith2005 ▎

- Potfest Bristol, Easter Compton, Bristol2004 ▎

- Illuminate, Walcot Chapel, Bath- Twelve Design Show, West Barn, Bradford-on-Avon- New Designers, Islington- Degree Show, Bath Spa University, Bath

Why is clay important

for you

Wen-Hsi Harman

For me Clay crosses between East and

West. It is enriched with traditional

craft processes and contemporary art

quality. This hybrid language directly

connects with my own situation. As

a Taiwanese women living in the UK,

I am living ‘in between two cultures’.

I am a tourist as well as an outsider.

Embarrassed tensions always happen,

clay records my anger at the way I

have been treated through my touch.

I am an artist, a physical laborer

using my Taiwanese hands shifting a

dialogue between clay and my identity.

Clay is a platform letting me escape

to the multi- tension conditions

along the political borders. The clay is

flexible and imaginative in my approach

and can be soft or hard, time travels as

process transforms it. It comes from the

earth and once fired it becomes hard.

I always smell out the sense of the clay.

Sometimes I feel I do not have a voice

in this society. Therefore clay represents

my skin colour, cultural identity and

myself.

Wen-Hsi HarmanCurrently WEN-HSI (Vicky) is a

practice –led PhD student in ceramics

at Bath Spa University in the UK. Her

work involves using fingerprints to

reconstruct objects and express the

notion of identity. She is a Taiwanese

woman educated and working in

Britain.

Her main concern is to shift Taiwanese

traditional ritual objects to express as

a Taiwanese woman how to survive in

the gender, Post-colonial, Feminism

world. She is using clay as language to

record her predicament.

Her studio practice provides a

platform of freedom from which she

can escape and review the tensions

of living in the space between two

cultures (Britain and Taiwan).

(UK +44) 07553 039749

sweetukshop@gmail.com

wenhsichenceramics.weebly.com

Education

2013 – present PhD Ceramics, Bath Spa University, School of

Art & Design, Bath,UK

2009 – 2010 MA Contemporary Crafts (Ceramics),

University for the Creative Arts, Farnham, UK

2008 – 2006 National Taiwan Normal University, Taiwan

MA History of art in China

2003 – 2006 Soochow University in Taiwan

BA Chinese Literature

Exhibitions

2014 ▎

- Laura’s Place, 44AD Art Space, Bath, UK

- Creative Sparks Gala,Newton Park, Bath, UK

- PhD Progression Assessment show, Sion Hill Gallery,

Bath Spa University, Bath, UK

2012 ▎

- Great Summer Exhibition, Butetown History & Arts Centre,

Cardiff, Wales, UK

- World Event Young Artists 1000, Nottingham, UK

2010 ▎

- MA Degree Show, James Hockey & Foyer Gallery, Farnham, UK

2009 ▎

- Emerge, Farnham, Surrey, UK

Funding

PhD Funding 2013-2015 Awarded an MOE (The Ministry of

Education in Taiwan) scholarship

York St.The Roman Baths

44AD Art Gallery and Artists Studios

Visit Bath

Abbey St.

Church St.

Specialthanks