One of my very very favourite ceramists is British Dylan Bowen – his forms and slip decoration display a wild and free spirit which warms the soul.
In the words of David Whiting
(Author of Modern British Potters and their Studios) – “Dylan Bowen makes slipware really quite unlike any other produced today. There is a rhythmical attack, a flow of gestural energy that conjures up some of the most vibrant traditions of 17th and 18th century decorated earthenware. Yet it has a force that also reflects some of the more vigorous and minimal expressions of 20th century abstraction – particularly American – in painting and ceramics. He also cites outsider art and music as influences. His fresh and original combinations of colour on big platters and plates, the particular nature of these creamy surfaces on free, expansively thrown and press moulded forms, take the art of slip somewhere new and exhilarating.”2006
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Comment (1)
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very interesting stuff. I like some more than others. While some pieces are very wabi sabi (if I'm allowed to use that phrase, not being a Japanese speaker)others seem wobbly and sloppy. Maybe sloppy is too strong a criticism. Maybe I am over reaching for something ironic. I should temper my reaction with the fact that I am looking at some tiny pictures of pots on the internet, not turning them in my hands to really experience the pots. After all, these pots allude to a very physical beginning where clay and slip met with quite a vigorous and expressive splatter.
