Listening to porcelain
- Sara’s work features in international public collections
- She has sat on the expert panel of the Loewe Crafts Prize
- She makes porcelain works but has also explored cast bronze
Sara Flynn credits her mother with her strong creative streak. “She is one of those women who will try her hand at anything,” she explains. “She would go to auctions to pick up furniture for next to nothing and then restore them. She tended a beautiful garden and made amazing food from the produce she grew. Everything she did, she did with joy.” Sara herself originally went to college with the intention of being a painter, but an art foundation year allowed her to experiment with other materials, including clay, which she immediately embraced. Over the last 25 years, she has achieved international recognition for sculptural vessels, mainly in porcelain, that express her love of form, line and volume.
Interview
- Has any great ceramicist particularly influenced you?
- From the start I was drawn to Hans Coper’s sense of form. He was a master of form, volume and surface, combining to make a single cohesive piece. I also love Lucy Rie’s work – her glazes are incredible – but Coper wins for me every time.
- Did you have a mentor?
- I never undertook apprenticeships or worked with other potters. It would have been great if I had, as I often think I slowed my progress by being restricted by lack of knowledge. Having said that, the lack of influence allowed me to find my voice and I now love to work in solitude.
- What appeals about porcelain?
- There can sometimes be a 'snob value' to porcelain as if it is better than any other type of clay. I do not hold to this theory. To my mind, it is about a potter using the appropriate clay for the forms he or she wishes to make. Porcelain is a beautiful white canvas that is capable of beautiful edges and precise definition.
- How do you deal with the unpredictability of ceramics?
- Having the frame of mind to not fight surprises is fundamental to the skill. The material may suggest and lead ideas, so I have to be open to listening. However, that does not mean the techniques are random or accidental. I need to make sure the form itself is fully resolved.
Sara Flynn is an expert artisan: she began her career in 1999
