Deep Field

Deep Field takes its inspiration from an image captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. 
When scientists pointed it towards what appeared to be an empty patch of sky, prolonged exposure revealed thousands of previously unseen galaxies. At its core is the idea that patient attention can reveal abundance where there initially appears to be nothing.

In Deep Field, the astronomical gaze turns inward, translated into the physical language of ceramics. Using an intuitive free-flow approach to nerikomi, coloured clays are folded and compressed. 
Once fired, the exteriors appear deceptively simple, quiet, muted surfaces that hold their detail within.

The work is revealed through an intensive process of sanding. Moving through finer and finer grades, the outer surface is slowly removed to reveal what is embedded within the walls of the vessel. Intricate cellular formations and galaxy-like patterns begin to emerge, mirroring the vastness of deep space on a hand-held scale.

The repetitive nature of sanding also creates a space for introspection. Hours spent sanding become a pause from the noise of everyday thinking, a chance to reflect, process and follow deeper lines of thought. Just as the sanding reveals what is held within the clay, the process creates space for thoughts and new perspectives to surface.

Deep Field brings together three cosmos: the vastness of galaxies, the hidden world within the clay, and my own internal landscape. The work moves between these scales, using the process of making and uncovering to look at what can emerge when we slow down and look beneath the surface. 

Artist Statement
My practice is grounded in an upbringing shaped by a family of skilled craftspeople. My Father’s fibreglass boat-building business and my Mother’s skills in sewing and garment construction gave me an early foundation in technical knowledge, material understanding and practical skills. I now draw on these inherited ways of working within a contemporary, material-led ceramic practice. Working primarily with vessel forms, my practice seeks to explore how knowledge is inherited, adapted and transformed as it moves between materials, processes and generations. I am interested in what happens when familiar ways of making are taken out of their original context and reinterpreted through clay, creating a dialogue between industrial processes, craft and contemporary ceramics.

I work with large nerikomi slabs reminiscent of fabric, draping them over hand-carved plugs, much like fibreglass cloth laid over a mould or a mannequin. Once the slabs have dried to leather hard, they are constructed into the three-dimensional vessel. The rigid plug provides structure and control, while by contrast, the fluid and intuitive nature of the nerikomi introduces chance and unpredictability. These opposing forces create tension within the work. Reclaimed studio clay introduces further variables, as offcuts from each vessel are reclaimed and returned to the clay body, allowing the clay palette to naturally evolve with the practice. 

After firing, the surfaces begin as quiet, almost monochromatic fields. The complexity is gradually revealed through a rigorous sanding process, where the outer surface is removed to expose intricate veins and hidden formations within the clay body. This becomes a process of sustained looking, uncovering depth and pattern that could not be seen from the surface alone.
The resulting vessels have a smooth, taut finish that invites touch. Their curves and surfaces draw on a shared visual language between maritime hulls, clothing and ceramic forms. Through this combination of inherited knowledge and material experimentation, I explore how ways of making are carried forward, adapted and transformed through material and process. 

bio

Growing up as a sensitive child, I sought to control my surroundings to create a sense of security. In the studio, however, I let my heightened intuition and awareness guide my process that is shaped by both personal and academic influences.

My Bachelor of Spatial Design sparked a deep appreciation for material processes, and I now construct each vessel from moulded stoneware slabs—a technique that echoes the fiberglass moulds my dad once used to build boats, connecting me to a family tradition of making and grounding my approach to form and structure.