Judith Davies

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Elements: air water

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Judith hand-builds in porcelain by pinching and slowly coiling to form the work. Porcelain is difficult, unforgiving and demands careful 

attention in making, especially when building to larger scale. But it rewards with the fineness of its surface and luminous white that carries colour so wonderfully well.  The surface texture with its distinctive striations contouring around the form, is created before firing. She discovered the technique through experimentation and it is, as far as she knows, unique to her practice.

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Colour is applied after firing, using natural pigments. These are layered on, repeatedly sanded back, washed in and then sealed with wax. This procedure, again the result of experimentation, results in subtle veils of colour and markings.

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Judith's aim is to make work that looks as if discovered rather than constructed. Objects that you could perhaps find washed up along a tideline or river’s edge, carrying their own history and sense of place. She is based in the North East where inspiration is found from the great vast swathes of Northumbrian beaches. The natural forms are abundant there; such as ripples in sand and water, urchin shells and weathered stones providing the elemental and contemplative backdrop to her work.

 

Judith is further influenced by the processes she chooses to deploy which allow the work to emerge rather than being controlled, by the uncovering of textures and markings inlaid into the porcelain through her hand’s interaction with the clay. The work is intensely tactile, both in its creation and to those who experience the final result.

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