O F F E R I N G S
‘In
a world dominated by commercialism and technology, where pressure is on instant
results, I enjoy the meditative nature of allowing the form to evolve with
handwork, imagination and human labour,
using the most primitive and natural material available: the earth itself.’
Lorraine
Robson
Scottish ceramicist Lorraine Robson makes beautiful, thought-provoking works that
pay homage to ancient and primitive skills, while embracing contemporary
influences. Not designed as functional, her hand-built pieces, often dictated
by the classic vessel form, are made from a kaleidoscope of influences from
throughout time. In this stunning exhibition of recent works, Lorraine shows elegant
individual pieces as well as intriguing collaborations with contemporary craft
makers Lise Bech, Black, Molly Ginnelly and Liz Myhill. The vessel is the most
simple and most secretive of sculptural forms: it both creates and encloses the
vacuum at its centre. Robson’s work capitalizes upon the secret quality of the
vessel, with many of her works concealing hidden and precious ‘offerings’.
The vessels are pristine in line and
finish; they have an aesthetic purity that belies their hand-crafted origins.
Robson’s extraordinary process takes the vessels through multiple firings,
glazes and polishes, each building to the final, glowing surface. Her reductive
palette of slate, ivory, terracotta and blood red is both earthy and intensely
human. It is reminiscent of rock and earth, blood and bone.
This is interesting in the context of
the conceptual underpinning of ‘Offerings’, which draws upon prehistoric
artifacts and ritual. Many of the objects on exhibition harbour secret gifts
within. Slice I and Slice II hold ornate concealed blades
within their pure, feminine forms. In the window, the gleaming red urn holds
within it a beautiful oxidized silver necklace made by Molly
Ginnelly. Kelp, on a
low plinth in the centre of the gallery, sees beautiful ceramic forms linked by
Liz Myhill’s printed silk scarf. These ‘offerings’ have a poetic quality,
linking them both to the natural world and to the ritual and sacrifice of the
ancient world.
 |
| Constantin Brancusi. The Newborn. 1920. Bronze. |
Much of Robson’s research took place
at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh,
such as the countless drawings of birds and beaks which fed into ‘Pecking
Order’, the installation on the gallery wall, and the ‘Be Still Life’ group of
several vase forms, each based on the compact bodies of birds with their wings
drawn close. This abstraction from nature is reminiscent of the interwar heyday
of Modern sculpture, when artists such as Brancusi, Hepworth and Moore drew
heavily on biology, organicism and evolutionary form to create a sculptural
practice of enduring and monumental simplicity. Robson’s ceramics are as much
sculpture as they are craft; they have a clear link to this mode of
practice.
Robson's exhibition will be on display until late August. The gallery is open 10am-5pm Monday-Saturday. please find us on facebook to find out more about current projects, exhibitions and opportunities:
If you would like to see some of the secrets of the
work revealed, please ask at the gallery desk and we will be happy to show you.
Price list available on request
