Melissa Graham: Mixed Aspirations

About

Melissa is a studio potter in Worthing, having begun in ceramics in 2018. She has chosen to call this exhibition 'Mixed Aspirations' because this phrase describes her current mindset towards her pottery and is reflected in the collection of pieces on display, a mixture of functional and decorative work.

Her primary drivers as a ceramicist are the challenges of wheel throwing, and an interest in glaze chemistry. A determination to produce pots which are beautiful and useful leads her to an evolving awareness and appreciation of form.

The 'mixed aspirations' are therefore to make beautiful forms, make useful pots and explore glaze chemistry to add decoration which complements and enhances each pot. These things work together, but in many ways are separate disciplines.

In this exhibition there are many functional pots including some garden-ware. Melissa made the garden-ware from reclaimed clay; a mixture of different stonewares (oddments accumulated over two years and recycled by hand this summer). The mixed reclaim had superb throwing characteristics suitable for making larger pieces such as garden pots, and this was very enjoyable. Ceramic glazes behave very differently on different clay bodies, so glazing these pieces, made from mixed clay, was very much a guessing-game, hoping for something attractive or interesting.

Also, in this collection the viewer will find some pots inspired by the Korean moon jar, a tradition which began in the late 14th century. Melissa has admired these beautiful, almost spherical, floating shapes since beginning her journey in ceramics, and has taken two courses about them. There is no such thing as a perfect moon jar. In the making, there should be a balance of a drive towards perfection and a letting go, so that the pot has spontaneity and simplicity. The pots on display are aspirational in that they are somewhere along the path to what Melissa hopes to achieve, which is a sense of uplift and joyfulness.