A lively informal discussion with Mike Tooby took place on Sunday 21 August. Nicola Tassie and Sara Moorhouse talked about their work in the context of the game-changing ceramics being made and marketed today.
Functional, functionally ambiguous or sculptural? Potter, ceramicist, maker or artist? Fine artists working with clay. Ceramicists showing in fine art galleries. The Great Pottery Throw Down on TV. Status of ceramics in art education.
Above left to right: Nicola Tassie, Sara Moorhouse, Mike Tooby. Wall: Nicola Tassie Sea View 2005 4 part still life set Stoneware with glaze and slip. Pop after Lichtenstein 2005 Set of 3 pierced jars Earthenware with tin glaze. Stephen Chambers Stealing things – Bicycle Thief 2015 Oil on linen. Table: Sara Moorhouse bowls part of The St. Ives Collection a group of 32 bowls
Mike Tooby
Mike Tooby is an independent curator and writer based in Cardiff and is Professor of Art & Design at Bath School of Art & Design, Bath Spa University. He was the Founding Director/Curator of Tate St. Ives
Nicola Tassie
Nicola Tassie’s jugs and bowls were a permanent and popular feature of the Wills Lane Gallery exhibits, and her installations, shown by us at Collect 2015, were a sell out. Her new work continues to experiment.
Sara Moorhouse
Sara Moorhouse – a ceramicist new to the gallery, won the 2014 Creative Wales Award from Arts Council Wales and used it to make The St. Ives Collection 2014-2016 now in the gallery – a group of 32 bowls with bands of colour inspired by the light and colour particular to St. Ives. She has always been interested in the way colour can alter spatial perception. For the opening of the new Centre of Ceramic Art at York Art Gallery she exhibited a group of 27 bowls based on the arable landscapes of Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire.