Mud & Water

Studio Eleven Gallery presents an exhibition of handmade earthy ceramics, complemented by expressive drawings of the local terrain of boulder clay, known as the Holderness Plein.

Featuring:

Paul Wearing Ceramics

Paul Wearing is an associate member of the Crafts Potters Association.  He exhibits nationally and has created a large following through exhibiting at Ceramic Art London and other prestigious ceramic art events.

‘Through the glazed surface of coil-built vessels I explore a visceral sense and physical feel for nature and its seasons. Textures found on surfaces within diverse environments are fundamental to my practice. Such textures can be rendered through volatile, blistering glazes. The tension between the man-made form and glaze phenomena in my work, brings into focus the nature of our vitality, materiality and fragility.  I often work with vessels in series in order to investigate various aspects of the above states of flux and processes of change and transformation. Groups are distinct yet related and can be considered individually and/ or sequentially as there is an evolutionary thread to them as the surfaces increase or decrease in activity and matter. In all there is the potential for us to contemplate the simultaneous coming and going, appearing and disappearing of matter and time.’

Paul studied ceramics to postgraduate level in Cardiff where he has lived and worked since. After completing the BA course in 2000 Paul co-founded Elements Studio and Gallery where he remained for three years as Co-Director before returning to Cardiff University to complete his MA in ceramics.  Paul is a member of the famous Fireworks Clay Studios where he held the positions of Chair and Co-Director from 2008 until 2013. In 2016 Paul returned to the role of Co-Director.

John Petty Drawings

John Petty is an experienced draftsman who has a lifelong fascination with the wilderness in Holderness, recording fragments of buildings and the discerning landscape.  John Petty was a graphic designer by trade and worked in Leeds for many years before returning to his beloved Holderness.

‘Although my work is fixed in specific locations, I am not attempting to make accurate representations, rather I am attempting to convey something of my experience of being in that landscape; it is a landscape to which I have a strong attachment.’

John’s drawing process involves repeatedly making and disrupting the drawing; the drawing is with graphite; the disruption is created with gesso and by scouring and scratching the surface with sharp tools.  New paper is added in places and is sometimes collaged together.  This may be to repair an area, or it may serve no purpose other than to develop the textural qualities of the drawing.

The obscured and hidden layers of the drawings reflect the layers of history and the stories that the buildings/landscape have seen.

“It is right that some of the drawing is obscured and lost as are the lives and stories of the people that once invested so much in these places.”