My Highlights from the British Ceramics Biennial

It was such a treat to visit the BCB this year. After an initial false start - I originally set off on a Tuesday, without reading the opening times properly. The Goods Yard, where the Award headline exhibition is held is open from Wednesday to Sunday, and this was what i was travelling to see. We got almost to Stoke before realising (checking), that’s a good 2 hours in the car. I have no-one to blame but myself - I think it was just over excitement. My very patient husband took the news very well, we are still married and he even drove me back again a few days later when it was actually open. There were mumblings of ‘ this had better be worth it! ‘ from both of us - mine coming from a place of guilt as I had wasted 4 hours of his day off on the first attempt.

Me getting in the way of Fluxing Red by Ho Lai

Thankfully, I can report that it WAS worth it! I will show you some of the highlights for me.

Above is me standing in front of a work by Ho Lai called Fluxing Red. I loved this piece as it had great impact from a distance, it spanned a large wall area. Then up close, the progressive fluxing of the glaze and blurring of the detail within the forms offered intriguing detail of the glaze whilst the detail of the forms became hidden. The soft graduation of colour which intensified along with the thick application of reactive glaze is beautifully done. It is a series of 50 Bone China objects formed in the outline of Hong Kong. With this work Lai responds to the changes in British and Hong Kong citizen’s collective identity in the post-colonial period.

Stephen Dixon - The Ship of Dreams and Nightmares’

Another powerful piece and in fact the winner of the Award was this poignant installation by Setphen Dixon (above). ‘The Ship of Dreams and Nightmares’ speaks of the 827 migrants who have died this year attempting to cross the Mediterranean. Each of the elements in this piece is made from ceramic and glazed with maiollica, a tin glaze with which Dixon draws upon the geographical similarity between the historic migration of maiolica and the migration routes of contemporary refugees and asylum seekers. A very thought provoking piece and a very worthy winner.

Bridge Under Troubled Waters by Alison Cooke

Bridge Under Troubled Water by Alison Cooke is made of fragments from a sediment core excavated from 3.6m below the sea bed and from glacial clays dug from Norfolk’s cliffs. This work aims to link us with our ancestors who crossed Doggerland, the area of fertile lowland that linked Britain to Europe during the last Ice Age. As the temperatures rose the glacier melted and Doggerland became submerged. We are now on the same warming trajectory and similarly are attempting to hold back the tide. I loved these industrial looking forms, particularly where they interlock. The wall behind showed clay samples and photos of the sediment core. I’d have loved to have chatted to Alison about this project - fascinating on many levels.

I think that this wonderful piece ‘Unknown 2. Unknown 5’ by Janet Lines is my favourite from the day. I’m not sure from the title whether it is actually 2 separate pieces but in my mind it is one, they are clearly in conversation with one another. I love the narrow gap between them, highlighted by the soft blackening of the rims. The organic textured shape gives a weird creature-like quality and those black rims are the openings to these hollow amorphous forms, almost like mouths. Lines explains that her sculptures explore themes of displacement and dis-belonging, the uncertainty of the unknown and I definitely get that from this work. These forms are large too, from memory I think each form is about 60cm in length, so they have real presence, they literally drew me in from across the room.

There is a lot more to this show than I can report here, a few more that caught my eye are below by artists - (Left -right) Abi Willis, Christie Brown, Alice Walton and Jin Eui Kim.

It’s a fantastic and varied exhibition and if you want to go it’s on until 17th October 2021 with free entry. There’s also plenty of other shows and talks etc at other venues around Stoke for the duration. After a good couple of hours in the show at The Goods Yard my husband & I drove to find a country pub for a late lunch - the perfect end to an inspiring visit.

Follow the link to find out more ; British Ceramics Biennial