Artist Statement
I create work using porcelain, my own field clay, found objects and reclaimed clay and glaze. Sculptures are inspired by observation and reflections of my surrounding environment with a special focus on the interactions between humans and nature. The hand built forms can be intricate and detailed but also wild and unruly, appearing familiar and yet unknown, reflecting states of transition, with a thin line between decay and decline or regeneration and rejuvenation.
I love to experiment and improvise with materials, being interested in pushing processes and materials to their limits, taking advantage of the results. There is quiet a high failure rate with stresses and cracks appearing in the drying, maneuvering and firing, where material tensions fight against each other and this allows the caring and mending to re-emerge.
Creativity and care are inseparable for me and by integrating themes of wounds and healing, I connect to my training as a Registered Nurse.
My enjoyment of exploring design, form and finish through clay and glaze continues to develop since completing my MA in Ceramics and Glass at the Royal College of Art and through my current teaching practice at Stroud College.
CV
Education and Employment
2021-Present Day, Ceramics Tutor, SGS Colleges, Stroud Campus, Gloucestershire
2021-Present Day, Wellbeing Tutor, SGS Colleges, Stroud Campus, Gloucestershire
2021-Present Day, Ceramics Technician, SGS Colleges, Stroud Campus, Gloucestershire
2023, BTEC Level 3 Award in Education and Training
2020-21, Create Place, Creative Leadership Programme, Staffordshire University
2017-19, MA Ceramics and Glass, Royal College of Art
2013-17, BA in Drawing and Applied Arts, University West of England
2012-13, Art and Design Foundation Diploma, Stroud and South Gloucestershire College
1981-84, Registered General Nurse, Southampton University Hospitals
Represented By
Hone Gallery, Clarendon Cross, Holland Park, London
Awards
2024 Wells Art Contemporary (WAC) Installation Bursary
2019 Franz Rising Star Project, Selected for a Franz Rising Star Scholarship
https://www.franzproject.com/franz/en/news/2019Announcement_En
2019 Sept/Oct British Ceramics Biennial, Chosen for FRESH 2019, Emerging Artist Award
https://www.britishceramicsbiennial.com/what-we-do/annual-projects/working-with-artists/fresh/
2019 Winner of The RJ Washington 2019 Bursary
http://www.thewashingtonfoundationuk.com/home/4594671533
2018 Highly Commended, The Worshipful Company of Tin Plate Workers Alias Wirer Workers, Ceramics and Glass Award
https://tinplateworkers.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018-19-Lanthorn-19.pdf
2018 Runner up in the Design for Health JAM, Innovation RCA and the Royal Society of Medicine, for the project Medi-Thread
http://innovationrcajam.co.uk/
2017 Winner of the RWA/Pangolin Editions Sculpture Prize for the porcelain sculpture “Scrappage”
2017 Short listed for The Aesthetica Arts Prize
2014 Short listed for The Clarke-Wilmott Emerging Artists Award
Exhibitions and Other Opportunities
3rd August - 31st August 2024 - Wells Art Contemporary 2024, “SEEDS of 2024” Installation within Wells Cathedral
18th May - 18th August 2024 - “Creating Spaces” Sculpture Exhibition at Miserden Gardens and Club House with Cotswold Sculptors Assosiation
9th September - 14th January 2024 - Royal West Academy, 107th Annual Open Exhibition
Open Exhibition, Odds and Sods, Reclaimed, Recycled, Re-appropriated Ceramics and Clay.
1st August - 17th September 2023 - Summer Garden Exhibition at The National Trust Property Ascott Estate, Wing, Buckinghamshire
1st June - 30th July 2023 - “Creating Spaces” Sculpture Exhibition at Miserden Garden and Club House
2022- present, Showing at Hone Gallery, Clarendon Cross, Holland Park, London
2022/23 Annual Open Exhibition, Royal West Academy, Bristol
Open Exhibition, Stone Galls Triptych, Torn laminated porcelain pieces on a porcelain form.
2022 July ACE funded Artist Residency, Garw Valley, South Wales with Helen Acklam and Prerna Chandiramani
2022 8th April - May 15th, Fifty Bees 5 Exhibition, Somerton, Somerset
2020/21 Annual Open Exhibition, Royal West Academy, Bristol
2020/21 Wales Contemporary Exhibition, Milford Haven and London
2020 Bespoke Workshops
An Invitation to design and deliver two ceramics hand-building workshops for a client in Stroud
2019 Royal College of Art Purchase
Purchase of the Strata Sculpture “Orange Floret”
2019 British Ceramics Biennial - Fresh
An exhibition for newly graduated emerging artists, working within the ceramics field
2019 RCA 2019 Graduate Show
Exhibition, A new body of work developed out of experimentation, reflecting on decay/decline/regeneration/rejuvenation while responding to the need to mend and care
2019 Visiting Artist Workshops, University West of England
Workshops – Explorations through materials and materiality with BA and MA students
2018 Annual Open Exhibition, Royal West Academy, Bristol
Open Exhibition, Indignity Bottles, a response to children’s feeding beakers being used in elderly care
2018 “Subversive Surfaces”, Town Hall Arts, Trowbridge
Joint Exhibition and Publicly Engaged Workshop with Lou Baker. An investigation of the human body in a modern world, through the use of ceramics and textiles.
http://www.trowbridgearts.com/index.php?option=com_zoo&task=item&item_id=642&Itemid=272
https://issuu.com/loubakerartist/docs/handout-_subversive_surfaces__2_
2018 “Consigned to Women’s Hands, City Hall, Bristol
Group Exhibition of Contemporary Textile Art to coincide with International Women’s Day
2018 Exhibition, “Beginnings and Endings”, Fresh Arts/Synecdoche Art Community, Southmead Hospital, Bristol, Main Atrium
Joint Exhibition, Showing my Contemporary Textile Art “A Woman’s Work”, Porcelain Sculptures “Tools of My Trade” and “Porcelain Skin”
2017 “Dis-Place”, Vestibules Residency, Synecdoche Art Community, City Hall, Bristol
Joint Residency including a Public Participation Project. Individual artists, together exploring the meaning of identity and belonging in a building historically connected to the slave trade.
https://www.facebook.com/events/1676720865695318/
2017 Annual Open Exhibition, Royal West Academy, Bristol
Open Exhibition, The Sculpture “Scrappage”, folded porcelain skin with a pink water colour painted orifice.
2017 Exhibition, “Bodies”, Fresh Arts/Synecdoche Art Community, Southmead Hospital, Bristol, Main Atrium
Joint Exhibition, Reflecting the Body and Health, A Group of Porcelain and Hand Stitched Sculptures, “Contagion”
2016 “Bodies” Residency, Synecdoche Art Community, The Unit, The Arcade, Bristol
Joint Residency lasting one month, including several community involvement days,
https://www.facebook.com/events/564830563700707/
2016 “Skin-deep”, Second Solo Exhibition, Lansdown Gallery, Stroud
2015 “The Other Side of Me”, First Solo Exhibition, Lansdown Gallery, Stroud