THE CURATOR’S VIEW
FEATURED MAKERS
APRIL 2020
These are difficult times and we are very aware of the pressures on everyone, However we feel we should try, as long as we can, to implement our featured maker programme. If you are unable to visit us at Bevere, all of the work will be on our website as well as on display and available to purchase.
After the new makers to the Gallery who we were delighted to welcome during February and March, we have the privilege of showing two makers who have been with us over the years and whose work is much admired.
Chris Carter is amongst those we call Master Potters. Whilst his work changes direction as he works on new ideas, the quality of his making and design remain a constant, as does his reference to past cultures and his interpretation through a contemporary perspective. The essence of Chris’s work is in the design and the texture of each pot. It is the shaping enhanced by the clay body and minimal decoration that demonstrates how elegant simplicity can make considerable impact. His creative energy has not declined over the years and he continues to produce excellent pieces. Chris was due to join us for the Maker’s Lunch on 4 April but the current national exhortation to de-socialise has led to us cancelling the event.
Annabel Faraday has not featured here for some time, although she has shown here at Bevere on a number of occasions, including commissioned pieces depicting Worcester from unusual perspectives. Her main body of work involves a process of printing onto both sides of raw clay slabs that have been coloured with stained slips. The vessels are illustrated with her own (sometimes digitally altered) photographs and often with maps indicating the location of the images. Her work always fascinates and once again spending time looking at this work in detail adds considerably to the appreciation of this distinctive work.
I am sure that many who voted for Jemma Gowland the winner of the 2020 Bevere Graduate Show will be pleased to know that we have another group of her fine sculptures in the Gallery. These are stunning pieces and indeed if you didn’t vote for her, you will certainly see why so many visitors did.
Stuart Dickens
Ceramic Curator
March 2020
