Jennifer Morris 'Resilience' Small bowl, 32
Handmade in the UK.
Dimensions: Ø 9cm x H 8cm
Materials: Stoneware and earthenware
Method: Hand thrown vessel, reduction fired to 1270 degrees. During this process the kiln is starved of oxygen to create the reduction atmosphere. Once the final temperature is reached the kiln is crash cooled to 1000 degrees then sealed to cool down naturally.
Care: Water-tight, wipe dry after use
A masterfully balanced hand-thrown bowl, with an interior snowflake glaze of delicate tonal depth and rich lustre. Crazing, wherein thickly applied glaze causes a multitude of overlapping cracks, is often thought of as a defect. The crazing of Morris’ works, however, speak poetically of her material inquiries into the concept of resilience, exemplified here through the works' delicate pattern of intricate fractures and fissions. The crystalline-like patina treads a balance between different material associations, at once calling to mind both ceramic processes but also geomorphic surfaces, strata and even glass. The bowl’s exterior displays the raw clay body of its material beginnings, left bare in strong contrast to its interior.
Jennifer Morris’ 2022 collection for Maud & Mabel entitled Resilience responds to the artist’s sustained meditation on the importance of strength and durability to navigate daily life. Exploring her material through this concept of resilience, Morris utilises both raku firing, in which clays have to withstand rapid changes in extreme temperature, alongside reduction firing, in which clay has to endure the expansion and contraction of snowflake glazes: two material processes which put the clay under significant stress. Her preference for these processes, which produce intricate surface crackling and strong textural depth, lies in Morris’ relishing of chance-based interactions that are so intrinsic to the ceramic practice - ‘You can never make the same exact piece twice and therein lies the magic.’
About the artist:
