THE CURATORS VIEW
November/December 2018
I am not known as a Christmas enthusiast but nevertheless it is a
time when the gallery can provide exciting and stimulating possibilities. We
have tried to ensure that our visitors will have a special experience. The
group of five makers brought together for this feature have all been at Bevere
before and much admired. Two of them will be joining us for the November and
December Makers Lunches – more of which later.
Rowena Brown is an original maker. Her
groups of houses and the isolated buildings anchored on rock-like plinths
explore themes of self, solitude and community. She has developed an approach
to decoration and firing that results in multi-layered surfaces. Our challenge
is to show her pieces in the most effective way to maximise the presence of
each edifice. 
Petra Bittl is a highly respected
German potter whose work has appeared here several times. Her ceramics are painted, scratched,
inlaid with porcelain and decorated with slips. The painted elements are
simple: circles, spots and lines compliment the hand built and thrown
forms. Petra's work has always
been popular with our visitors and once again it is her originality and
creative energy that appeals.
Masazumi Yamazaki produces quirky
figurative pieces which show humans in a different light. This is work that
cannot be ignored there is no middle ground here you will either love his work
or hate it but you will admire his ingenuity and skill. The cultural influence
is clearly Oriental but nevertheless there is a universal humanity which is
expressed with skill and humour.
Yo Thom makes thrown and hand-built functional stoneware with influence from the
traditions of both British and Japanese pottery and food culture. She aims to
create tableware, which will become “clothes for food”. Yo’s pots perform their function as
tableware in harmony with the food whilst retaining their strong personality.
Importantly, she is joining us for lunch on 3 November. I have no doubt that it
will be a most enjoyable event. 
Gabriele Koch is another eminent German
maker living and working in the UK. She concentrates on simple forms, trying to relate equilibrium
and tension, stillness and movement, expansion and the containment of volume. All pieces are hand built with a heavily grogged stoneware body
and fine porcelain. Contrast of colour is produced by the colours of the clay,
black and white. I am also
delighted that she has agreed to join us for the Makers Lunch on Saturday 1
December which I know will be another treat for ceramic enthusiasts.
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