Much of this work was developed over several years while working alongside ceramic artist Celia Allen, whose generous teaching and encouragement helped me deepen my understanding of hand-built ceramics, raku and pit firing.
This early raku sculpture was developed in response to imagery from Marija Gimbutas' archaeological publications. Rather than recreating prehistoric artefacts, it explores how archaeological interpretation can become a starting point for contemporary making.
Certain forms and symbols return repeatedly throughout my work. Birds, horses, owl vessels, female figures, spirals and ancient motifs appear not as historical reconstructions but as recurring questions. Over many years these forms have become a visual language through which I explore memory, place, material transformation and our enduring relationship with the past.
Many of these pieces predate Mother Tongue, yet together they reveal the gradual development of the ideas that eventually came together in that exhibition. Rather than working towards individual objects, I have found myself returning to the same themes across different materials and over many years.
