Solo Exhibition - Jill Fanshawe Kato

The Gallery at Bevere has always placed emphasis on showing ceramicists with a distinctive voice - Jill Fanshawe Kato
is undoubtedly one of them. Her work is instantly attributable and her long association with Japan is clearly evident in everything that she makes. We are delighted to see her work in our 2009 exhibition schedule, particularly as it coincides with a large exhibition in Japan at the Keio Department Store in Tokyo, and the associated pressures of both making and shipping such a significant body of work across the globe.

She spent an extended period in Japan last year and she talks enthusiastically about how working with Japanese potters fired her imagination and her creative drive. Her ceramics are inspired by travel and nature and sometimes by ancient buildings returning to nature.

Jill uses a range of making processes - coiling, slabbing, sculpting, throwing and altering. She uses a range of stoneware clays and is currently experimenting with additions of River Dart clay – the effect of which is to produce an entirely different surface and feel to the work. All her work is fired to 1270ºc in gas reduction. Her use of a wide range of making techniques produces an extensive range of work from the functional – with a strong Japanese influence – to the purely sculptural.

Her use of decorative panels on an unglazed but textured surface is reminiscent of the red ware produced by Wedgwood at the beginning of the 19th century and it is the combination of tradition and modern design which is the strong appeal of her work.

This exhibition will be an opportunity for Jill’s many admirers – and the team at Bevere are amongst them - to see her work and to see how it has developed over the last two years.