Pilgrim Flask V

Anna Butler | Stoneware, raku glazes | 8 x 11 x 3 inches

I recently graduated from the Royal College of Art (MA Ceramics & Glass), and previously have a Masters from Cambridge University and an extensive career in cinema. My ceramic art is a personal response to books, poetry or films which have strongly resonated in my life.

My work explores how physical, solid, earth-bound ceramics might convey literary ideas and emotions. Writers often respond to physical objects (such as Keats’ Ode On A Grecian Urn); in literary terms this is called ‘ekphrasis’. But can we reverse this to create physical artworks that somehow express a writer’s ideas? In my work, I call this ‘reverse ekphrasis’.

The pieces I have submitted are inspired by the writings of James Joyce (particularly ‘The Dead’), philosopher Iris Murdoch (‘The Sea, The Sea’), and poet Maxine Kumin. But I hope that they stand alone, and that – regardless of whether the viewer has heard of the text that inspired them – their subtle textures and intriguing details will provoke a quietly poetic and contemplative response.

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