CONTEMPORARY CERAMICS

ANDREA BARKER

Spoons are one of the most overlooked objects when one thinks of tableware made from Ceramic. They are one of the most spulptural form ofthe humble everyday objects we use.

My spoons express sensuality and fenininity, blurring the boudnaries of sculptural form and functional object.

My collections of objecs are designed for contemplation and the art of meditation and quietude...absence of noise, silence, stillness and simplcity.
The Japanese call it Shibui. It is a notion of ideal beuty, simplicity and humility.
My work attempts to express the validity of emptiness as an element of composition. Clay by its very nature is a heavy, earthy, grounded substance. I like challenging the material, using it in unconventional ways, defying gravity, giving it a visual lightness and making it float.
But most of all my work is about memory. Past cultures, lost languages, disused rituals, people now gone. Ceramics links us to the ancient world in a way few other materials can.