Friday 15 November 2013

Sue Paraskeva at the British Ceramics Biennial



British Ceramics Biennial, 2013.

I am a great fan of Sue Paraskeva's work so was delighted to see that she was exhibiting at the Biennial. I decided that her work deserves a post all to herself, so here are the pieces we saw at the Biennial.

Paraskeva works with porcelain and uses a stick driven momentum wheel which allows her to work silently and without electricity in tune with the spin of the wheel. This is a technique used widely in Jingdezhen, the Chinese capital of porcelain. She uses wood ash slips, colouring oxides and inlayed clay. She produces tableware, altered one-offs and installation work.


Tableware








 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
One off: Sculptural work that is thrown and altered
 
The pieces below I find extraordinarily beautiful. Paraskeva throws bowls on the wheel. She then takes a piece of wood, brushes it with oxides and then proceeds to 'attack' the still wet clay bowls with it. The results you can see below.
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 






 
 
 
 








A very short video that shows how Paraskeva 'alters' her bowls. For a longer, more comprehensive exhibition of what she does, go to her website and watch the second video  (the one on the right). It is definitely worth seeing.



2 comments:

  1. Brilliant! Beautiful! Will comment more later when I can.

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    1. I love her 'altered' pieces, and I own two, I am happy to say. I have a friend who has six of her tableware bowls, and they are amazing - each one slightly different. I met her at the Oxford Ceramics Fair two years ago and it was a delight talking to her, and finding out about her technique. That's what I love about the Oxford ceramics fair - the artists are there, and the conversations with them are always fascinating. The installations featured on her website also look interesting and I would love to see them. I'm glad you liked them.

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