Originally trained as a painter, Abigail Schama came to ceramics with a wish to continue mark making and creating surfaces. Describing porcelain as “dangerous and seductive” Abigail Schama is drawn to work with the material for its whiteness, luminosity and association with purity. Stubborn and defiant, Abigail teases out porcelains unique characteristics whilst integrity of respecting the piece, sometimes introducing a block grog to the body, or cobalt oxide to disturb its cleanliness. Challenging her sense of control, the temptation when throwing is always to push the material to the point of near collapse. Abigail describes porcelain as a “precious but demanding princess”, needing to be prepared well. After throwing the piece needs to be trimmed to the point which shows off its radiance, the glazing also needing to consider the whiteness of the body and its durability. Abigail sometimes prefers to show the piece vitrified and not glazed.
Pieces in the Porcelain Exhibition will be dispatched after the 7th of July
