Ruth Barrett-Danes
Firebird, by Ruth Barrett-Danes
Interview
You’re currently printmaking, but you were a
ceramicist for 40 years. Tell me about that work.
I trained in sculpture, ceramics and printmaking at Plymouth College of Art and then Brighton College of Art and then worked in Wales, often in collaboration with my husband Alan, who was also ceramicist and whose family had a pottery at Upchurch in Kent for several generations. My ceramic work was concerned with the close observation of the independency of human and social relationships and their complex interactions, where the human form was of paramount importance. Working in collaboration often brings these aspects to the fore.
Drawing is the basis of my work and has been a critical aspect of my ceramic work which was my main preoccupation for the past years. I have exhibited widely in the UK, Europe and the USA, with my work being represented in many museums including the V&A’s Contemporary Ceramics Collection.
Since 2006 I have been researching and collating the archive material for a retrospective exhibition of the history of my late husband’s family pottery that was situated at Upchurch in Kent, together with the collection of ceramics by me, my husband Alan and our son Jon. This exhibition has been touring Wales and France.
When I moved from Wales to Hampshire, I set up a print workshop, where I’ve been working since 2007.
You’re currently printmaking, but you were a
ceramicist for 40 years. Tell me about that work.
I trained in sculpture, ceramics and printmaking at Plymouth College of Art and then Brighton College of Art and then worked in Wales, often in collaboration with my husband Alan, who was also ceramicist and whose family had a pottery at Upchurch in Kent for several generations. My ceramic work was concerned with the close observation of the independency of human and social relationships and their complex interactions, where the human form was of paramount importance. Working in collaboration often brings these aspects to the fore.
Drawing is the basis of my work and has been a critical aspect of my ceramic work which was my main preoccupation for the past years. I have exhibited widely in the UK, Europe and the USA, with my work being represented in many museums including the V&A’s Contemporary Ceramics Collection.
Since 2006 I have been researching and collating the archive material for a retrospective exhibition of the history of my late husband’s family pottery that was situated at Upchurch in Kent, together with the collection of ceramics by me, my husband Alan and our son Jon. This exhibition has been touring Wales and France.
When I moved from Wales to Hampshire, I set up a print workshop, where I’ve been working since 2007.
How do you work, and are there connections between your ceramics and printmaking?
I have been and am very concerned with materials and process. I was very fortunate to have had tutors who were passionate and dedicated in their teaching and rigorous in their approach to the craftsmanship of their area whether it was sculpture, ceramics or printmaking. This approach informs all my work, especially with Ceramics and the careful preparation of the clay and the lengthy procedures involved before a finished piece emerged from the kiln, and then being prepared for the inevitable disappointments and failures engendered a stoical approach and resolution to try again. The lithographic image also involved a laborious preparation of limestone that had to be ground smooth, being careful to select the appropriate grade of stone to suit the nature and content of the lithographic image being created --- these processes and degrees of preparation have permeated throughout my work, whether it is ceramic or print.
I find the same approach holds true with my printmaking today. The sensuous qualities of clay are also there in the print materials I use. The inks, the paper and the physical involvement in producing a print just can’t be felt via a computer screen, although a very useful tool. Often I develop ideas on the computer and can be seduced by the ease of manipulating the images and all that has to offer. However the time when the excitement really kicks in is with the actual hands on involvement with materials and the subsequent problem solving, intrinsically interweaving the idea, image or message I want to work with. For me it is an essential journey, working through the process and capturing an idea via one’s chosen medium.
What is inspiring your work now?
I am very much concerned with my response to the nature of the Hampshire landscape I find myself in, but am still very concerned with the interdependency of social relations. Today self-contained struggles are expressed through the imagery and nature of birds.
What is inspiring your work now?
I am very much concerned with my response to the nature of the Hampshire landscape I find myself in, but am still very concerned with the interdependency of social relations. Today self-contained struggles are expressed through the imagery and nature of birds.
© 2D3D South Contemporary Art, 2018