Derek Wilson.
Northern Irish Ceramic Artist - A Twenty-First-Century Hybridisation of a Studio Potter & Conceptual Artist
“MY PRACTICE AS A CERAMICIST CENTRES ON THE MAKING OF A DIVERSE RANGE OF CONTEMPORARY OBJECTS-FROM THE FUNCTIONAL TO THE SCULPTURAL. I ALWAYS START WITH THE SAME PROCESS, THE POTTER’S WHEEL BEING MY PREDOMINANT TOOL.”
Wilson uses porcelain, for its inherent qualities of whiteness and translucence but also for the depth achievable when it is glazed. The matte surfaces soften his more rigid forms. Wilson produces a collection of sculptural objects that have stemmed from his continuous exploration of the altered vessel. Questioning functionality, he uses the vessel as a means of artistic expression by exploring free and geometric abstraction. Habitually, the importance of object placement is foremost with Wilson’s work and a further dimensionality lies within how it is viewed. Inviting movement in the observer, these works ask them to contemplate the significance of subtle tonalities in surface finish and distribution of light and shadow.
