Biography

Steven has exhibited his work at various UK shows including British Ceramics Biennial, London Craft Week and London Design Festival. He has also made large- scale outdoor installations, including From Humble Beginnings as part of the Surrey Unearthed Arts Council funded project at the Watts Gallery.

Steven’s work investigates the language of making through the materiality and physicality of clay. Fascinated by process-led making, he uses simple tools and traditional techniques to explore unanticipated outcomes and revealing properties when clay is placed under tension. By manipulating the clay’s limits, he attempts to create objects that reference a balance between handmade and mechanised mark making. This is achieved by applying specific steps to a making process.

His aim is to share the material/maker relationship with the viewer by creating pieces that display a common theme of construction, drawing attention to the implied movement recorded by the clay through handling it over a period of time.

Steven produces a range of work from small sculptural vessel forms to large scale sculptures for installation.

Biography and statement in more detail

I have always been drawn to the immediate mark making qualities of clay. Whether throwing or hand building, my interests lie in working with its raw unfired state. From my first encounter with clay at school I continued to study ceramics at college and university completing a BA(Hons) degree in Applied Arts.

My career then took a different creative path as a Graphic Designer working mainly for London based design agencies for around 15 years. During this time I continued to produce ceramic work which led recently to completing an MA in Ceramics from the University of the Creative Arts. The course enabled me to dig deep into the subject and question my connection with the material. From this knowledge I was able to focus on developing a specific area of interest and begin developing an emerging artist career.

My work aims to share the material / maker relationship with the viewer by creating work that emphasizes implied movement. Fascinated by process-led making, I use traditional techniques to explore unanticipated outcomes in an attempt to hold a narrative of the making process through the materiality of the clay. The forms I create are the result of the interaction of the artist’s action, the manipulation of the clay using bespoke tools and the properties of the material.

My practice explores purposely placing clay under stress to reveal the tension and movement in its surface and form. The whole making process pushes, pulls, compresses and slices the material to provoke a reaction. The final fired forms are the result of combining elements from these making scenarios, they reference vessel objects that hold their own different characteristics and energy.

The recurring making process of my work involves a cycle of hand skilled techniques through touch, followed by destructive actions using specific tools. This approach allows new objects to evolve and enables the clay to form its own expression. I see my relationship with clay as a collaboration, in which I aim to reveal its characteristics, whilst it, in return, teaches me about its natural properties.

Since Cluster 2018

I have continued to explore applying a specific making processes to my practice. Developing the process Repetition, Compression and Cut has led to producing large figurative sculptures that were exhibited at the British Ceramics Biennial in October 2019. More recently I have focused on refining the work by creating smaller pieces to enable a broader output of results. I am still exploring porcelain parian clay and its challenging properties. There’s endless possibilities to push the material. It was produced as a cheaper more malleable material to substitute marble and I have found my research and interests drawn to marble sculpture both in its decorative use in history and its properties as a material and how it is extracted.

IN THE STUDIO

www.stevene.co.uk
@stevenedwardsceramics