beats ashtrays and wobbly coil pots

Over the years I have dabbled with ceramics, through teaching it pupils and at various stages to adults during evening classes. It's not a medium that I have an infinity with, I struggle with its properties and have at times used it as a medium for small sculptures. Understanding different firing and glazing techniques is an area that as the years have gone past never really got to grips with. Visiting galleries and exhibitions I have recently seen a lot of ceramic work which I must admit does intrigue me, but not the bowls etc but more sculptural approaches. Sitting in our kitchen we have a piece by Eoghan Bridge titled:Rotund Horse and Rider which we acquired (courtesy of the Linda Blackstone Gallery)

Some time ago - well last December, I met an artist Kuldeep Malhi who was also exhibiting in the Sesame Saloon we shared a chat and a drink! I found his work beautiful and again strangely enough it was ceramic. I was facinated by the work, enquired on the techniques used and basically loved the organic and sensual shapes created.

here's an example:

Blush

Blush was a direct influence from early Indian sculpture especially the Eleventh Century temples of central India, their sculptures and carvings which display explicit erotic imagery are astoundingly beautiful, they charm and seduce. They are bold yet sensitive, fantastic yet poetic, demonstrating the intimate relationship between sculpture and architecture; sensations and qualities that are reflected in the work of Kuldeep Malhi.Dimensions for these pieces range from 6cm to 27cm. Each piece is fixed to the wall with a screw and can be removed easily. There are 15 pieces in each set, the number of pieces in a set can be increased or reduced through negotiation and priced accordingly. Currently all Kuldeep Malhi's wall installations are slip cast earthenware. Different colour ranges are available on all works.

Searching around as you do, I hit upon these ceramic pieces, which has sparked off my creative juices: formulating a new body of work based upon a piece a produced last year - 'its all .......' (acrylic on canvas)

where one piece will be ceramic based (will need to sharpen up my firing and glazing skills, or alternatively do a collaborative piece with Kuldeep, if he is agreeable!) More on this new body of work in a future post....

back to the plot!

The ceramic pieces that I came across are very different from the normal ceramics you see and apart from the comic book theme - batman, I find the concept and final outcome exciting. Any thoughts?

artwork by Shigeki Hayashi ( some incredible stuff)