Space for the workings of nature
- Kerry makes organic-shaped sculptures and sculptural vessels
- She uses a grogged white firing stoneware clay
- She creates handmade stamps to imprint on the surface of her pieces
Kerry Hastings grew up in rural Scotland, and Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the north of England. She discovered clay as her material of choice during her foundation year at art school, and pursued a ceramics degree at Harrow Ceramics. "The teaching was brilliant and inspiring,” says Kerry, although her studies were briefly interrupted by the arrival of her triplet babies. Kerry originally worked from a studio in her London home, where for many years she made sculptural vessels, developing her technique of adding oxides to the clay. Her wheel-thrown tableware became her bread and butter, and was sought after by leading London retailers. It was during the quietness of the Covid lockdown that Kerry had the opportunity to truly go back to experimenting with form. Ever since, sculptures and sculptural vessels have emerged from her kiln at Cockpit Studios.
Interview
- What is your process?
- I start with a tiny sketch, just as an idea, but invariably that goes out the window once I start making. It is in the process of making that I am guided by the clay's suggestions. The final pieces are not inspired by nature but rather by the workings of nature.
- How did you segue from tableware to sculptures?
- In September 2020, during the Covid lockdown, there were no orders and no exhibitions, so I chose to use this time to get back in touch with my love of the material. It allowed me to start exploring, developing, and moving into pure sculpture rather than tableware and vessels.
- What is your technique?
- I use pinch and coil – just me, my hands and the clay. I roll out a long, fat rope of clay, which I flatten and cut into 8cm strips. I just keep working upward, pushing from the inside to create the curves. I want to challenge the material so I would never use a mould because the forms would be uniform.
- What is your priority in the process?
- For me, it is pushing the material – literally. Sometimes I stretch it out so much that it breaks. I have been using earthstone handbuilding for decades, so I know exactly what I have to do, but occasionally the lean goes too far, starts to tilt over and I need to guide it back to create balance. That is when I get a lovely sense of movement.
Kerry Hastings is a master artisan: she began her career in 2002 and she started teaching in 2003
Where
Kerry Hastings
