Tracing ancient connections to natural materials and contemporary mythologies, the eight makers featured in CAA‘s London Craft Week exhibition weave routes through history and across cartographies in which elemental materials such as clay and gold become intermediaries for human relationships to place.
From our ancient past to the modern day, humans have always been drawn to leaving their mark on a landscape. We have laid down stones in memory, scratched names and scribbles into surfaces and collected memories of places we have been. Working across ceramics, textiles and metal, all eight makers featured in Traces: Imagined Histories in Clay, Silver & Thread use materials as an intermediary for human relationships to place and memory. Traces: Imagined Histories in Clay, Silver and Thread presents exciting new bodies of work from both established and emerging makers. The exhibition is presented alongside a series of events, including workshops in weaving with plant-dyed yarns and making floral sculptures from paper clay, and a talk by jeweller Vicki Ambery-Smith on how London’s skyline inspires her fine jewellery.
VICKI AMBERY-SMITH
GILL FORSBROOK
ALI HOLLOWAY
GILLES LE CORRE
NANCY MAIN
ANIA PERKOWSKA
HANNA SALOMONSSON
SASHA WARDELL
Unveiling the Void: Minimalist Black Porcelain at London Craft Week
I’m thrilled to announce my participation in London Craft Week this year! As part of the exciting showcase at the Contemporary Applied Arts gallery, I’ll be unveiling a new collection of minimalist black porcelain vessels.
For years, I’ve been captivated by the interplay of form and function in ceramics. This collection embodies that fascination, stripping away ornamentation to reveal the raw beauty of black porcelain. Each piece is a vessel in the truest sense – a container for light, shadow, and perhaps, the viewer’s imagination.
The rich blackness of the porcelain isn’t just an aesthetic choice. It’s a material exploration, pushing the boundaries of porcelain’s potential. The deep, inky hue is achieved through a specific combination of clays and firing techniques, resulting in a surface that’s both smooth and subtly textured, inviting closer inspection.
The shapes themselves are a celebration of minimalism. Soft curves and clean lines define the collection, with each vessel existing in a harmonious tension between form and space. There’s a sense of quietude and contemplation in these pieces, an invitation for the viewer to slow down and appreciate the subtle play of light on the black surface.
Whether displayed individually or as a curated group, these vessels are designed to be more than just objects. They’re intended to spark conversation, to prompt introspection, and to act as focal points within a space.
A date for your calendar!
📆 13 – 19 May
📍Contemporary Applied Arts, 6 Paddington Street, London, W1U 5QG