THE VILLA STUDIO
Juliet Walters
I have been a Brighton based ceramic artist for the past 25 years working from my studio at Phoenix Art Space. My work is fundamentally concerned with the treatment of its surface. My focus is to combine the two techniques of, carving into clay, and the burnishing of its surface, into one coherent theme.
Over the past year I have been working with Diana to produce a body of work for The Villa Studio which has concentrated on the technique of carving into the clay body and using gold leaf detail at the end of the process. Carving into clay creates a three dimensional texture using a series of different levels and depths. It disturbs the surface of the clay body, encouraging the eye to move in, rather than bounce away.
The ideas of Henry Moore and Ewen Henderson are inspirational to me, in their belief that you should let the material take the lead pushing each one beyond its limit. The curvaceous and uncomplicated structures of Anish Kapoor and Barbara Hepworth, and Gabriele Koch’s gourd like burnished pots, all appear to have mastered the skill of uniting form with surface which is what I hope to achieve within my work.
Instagram: @julietwaltersceramics
