In Return to Form, Stuart Carey offers a profound exploration of human connection, distilled through the art of ceramics. This exhibition, debuting at our gallery, presents an intimate series of pieces that reflect both the artist’s creative renewal and his desire to reconnect with the core of his practice. For Carey, these works are “an exploration of myself as a maker...of human qualities, formative relationships, and the physical and emotional representation of these in clay.”
Return to Form represents a “very personal return,” Carey explains, following years away from his own creative work while he focused on family life and co-managing The Kiln Rooms, London’s first open-access ceramics studios. After a period of emotional ebb and flow with his craft, he began to feel the pull of clay once more, remembering his “capacity to love the material.” As he describes it, “increasingly I found myself lying awake at night with ideas buzzing around my head…a reason to start, a framework and a goal was what I needed to get back in the saddle.”
Each piece in this series is crafted from white stoneware and porcelain, and its shape is inspired by “human silhouettes, gestures, and expression.” Some forms are modified by a “squeeze or an embracing hold,” capturing moments of interaction in frozen gestures. This process of creating “tribes or families” of vessels is central to Carey’s approach: “I’m fascinated by groups of people, friends, families, work groups, communities and beyond. How people find each other and sit together, different body shapes, characters and characteristics.” His vessels, like people, stand alone yet gain strength when arranged together. They are “the harmony in the choir,” each unique but linked in a shared visual and emotional language.
Color plays an equally significant role in the exhibition. While Carey is known for his “soft subtle palette in creams, beiges and blue hues,” he chose to develop new earthy, flesh-like tones for this collection. “Each glaze has a depth beyond its surface quality,” he says, describing the nuanced combinations of light and dark that give his pieces a natural warmth. Through these carefully selected hues, the vessels capture “the earth and the body together; it hopefully speaks to the material and its human representation.”
A hallmark of Carey’s work is the emphasis on physical engagement. “I want the work to be a sensory experience,” he notes. The vessels invite touch, allowing viewers to experience the “impression of a squeeze or a subtle movement in the wet clay during making.” Carey explains, “If you’re drawn to touch, then you’ve been seduced by the form and by the hand of someone else…to me in many ways it’s all about love and connection.”
Return to Form represents a new direction for Carey, one that is “more sculptural, perhaps playful,” and it’s a freedom he envisions exploring further. “It’s a language I’ve been learning over the past two decades,” he reflects, “and its translation into clay is still in its early stages.” As he continues to create, experiment, and explore, Carey’s work—like himself—will “continue to grow.”
Stuart Carey’s Return to Form is an invitation to reflect on connection, both personal and universal, expressed in the timeless language of clay. Visit us in the gallery until Saturday 16th November or online to see the full collection.
