Guest Makers Exhibition at Craft In The Bay

I have raced back to Wales to help set up my work at Craft In the Bay, still jet-lagged but loving the experience. The Opening for my work and the Summer show is Friday 12th July 2013 6-8pm. I haven't got any photos (yet...) to share with you so here is my Artist Statement to entice you to come see my work!

Work from Shigaraki Artist-In- Residency Program 2^nd April- 2^nd July 2013

My new collection of work has been created around the theme of ‘Transformation’ and continues on from my inspiration of the Trickster character that exists in almost every culture. The narrative elements of Trickster's shape shifting abilities and the disruptive creativity is always in my work.

I went to Japan for an artist residency not just because of Japan's rich and revered history of ceramic art but a chance to explore my Japanese heritage, to understand the influences and beauty seen through another culture's perspective. From the beginning of my project I wanted to be influenced by, not imitate, Japanese Art. This exhibition gives a contemporary view of Japan's traditional narratives that captures the creative imagination which I believe is still relevant today.

Nature, from the environment surrounding Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park, had the biggest impact on me. The beauty of the surrounding forests and rice fields, the nature trails and the breath-taking Sakura, Cherry Blossoms, inspired me. I also truly understood for the first time the Japanese Artists passion to represent the changing seasons in their many art forms. Nature, as experienced by me during 3 months I spent in Shigaraki truly helped me to connect to my Japanese heritage.

With nature as my guide my theme of Transformation took on a more subtle approach. In life we may crave for sudden changes in good fortune, but in reality, and the ideas of Zen Buddhism (so influential in Japanese Art) these changes take a slower but more purposeful journey.

All my pieces express the initial stages of transformation. The ‘kitsune’ (Japanese word for fox) is familiar in Japanese's folktales for turning into a beautiful woman adorned in a Kimono. However in my mind the fox starts with a scrap of cloth, which the fox has the talent to transorm eventually into a beautiful kimono, an artform in itself. ‘Kintaro’ or golden boy is paused in thought before avenging his mother’s death (she was eaten by a giant carp). He is on the brink of leaving his childhood behind and will become a hero in Japanese folklore. The hands of Disruptive Creativity symbolise the possible changes in the future for good and bad. Ideas like seeds implant themselves and develop from there.

Craft In The Bay Website:
http://www.makersguildinwales.org.uk/index.php