Once again we have had the
pleasure of a most informative and
enjoyable two hours over lunch with Sasha Wardell.
We
have had the pleasure of showing Sasha's work here over a number of years and
there is no doubt that the skill and elegance demonstrated by her work adds so
much to the pleasure of our visitors.
Sasha's
hallmark style, a
distinctive combination of pure white slip cast bone china, treated with unique
decorating techniques and finished in a carefully chosen palette of muted,
subtle colours, has made her work highly sought after by private collectors,
museums and contemporary art galleries worldwide.
Once
again, we see very clearly demonstrated by her individual pieces an issue we have discussed many times
during these events which is 'presence' – the ability of an individual piece to
communicate with the viewer – indeed to make an impact. I admire Sasha's work
on a number of levels – her skill and precision, the elegance and at times understatement
- perhaps subtlety of design would be more appropriate – of each vessel and her
choice and combination of colour. You want to look – you want to pick them up
and feel that texture and shape of this fine work.
She
was very open about the way she works and over time how much of the apparent
precision was now almost intuitive which says much about her eye for detail and
her innate making skills. It was also evident that her early years in
industrial ceramics – both in her training and a number of attachments to major
makers including Limoges plays a considerable part in her technical prowess.
Bone
china was her choice of material early on in her career and given the
translucency of so much of her work and the response to light and shade it is
not difficult to see why. She responded to a range of questions about her
making processes which fascinated everyone.
As
always, it is difficult to summarise such an extended conversation. It was
interesting to hear about her divided time between England and France where she
also has a studio and the time that she devotes to teaching, which has been a
major aspect of her career to date.
Surprisingly,
Sasha had only returned from Vancouver two days before the lunch and it was
interesting to here of her experience running workshops and teaching in Western Canada. We have
to be most grateful for her added effort in travelling up from Wiltshire for
this event – she certainly deserves a few rest days!!
Stuart Dickens
Ceramic
Curator
November
2019
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