Simon Kidd – Erratics 10 – 21 May 2022

Erskine, Hall & Coe are hosting a new exhibition of works by the acclaimed Irish artist, Simon Kidd from 19^th – 21^st May 2022. Below, Simon talks about the works and the enigmatic title of the show – Erratics.

Why did you choose to call the exhibition Erratics?

The namesake of this exhibition are glacial erratics, which are rocks that have been carried across the landscape by glaciers and then deposited someplace after the glacier has melted. Glacial erratics are found in various places across the world, Ireland being one of them. They are scattered across our island, and often have a connection to Irish mythology and folklore — from being stones that were thrown by giants of the past, to Ail na Míreann in County Westmeath, which is said to be a meeting place between the Earth and the Otherworld.

These rocks are special – from the journeys they’ve been taken on by glaciers to the stories they’ve become part of over thousands of years. I wanted to instill some of these qualities into this body of work. These pieces are made of the land: they are embedded with and coated in rocks from different parts of Ireland. They are taken far from their origin and original state and made into something new, sitting quietly, balanced somewhere far from home.

Did relocating to Dublin have an effect on your making process?

Moving to Dublin definitely did have an impact on how I work. The move itself forced a break in my making cycle. It gave me an opportunity to take a step back and consider the direction I want my work to go in. This led me to spending the following six months experimenting and playing in my studio to figure out my next steps. This body of work was born out of this time.

The works are press moulded, rather than slip cast. Why the change of technique and have you also brought in new materials?

This change came after my move to Dublin. I wanted to move away from slip casting for a few reasons. I wanted to start digging further into making fully enclosed forms, which is a little bit more complicated with casting. Press moulding also gives me more scope for introducing more materials into the clay body – such as the granite I’ve used in the pieces in this exhibition – and to be freer with the clays I use, which are both things I’m looking forward to spending more time experimenting with in the future.

The glazes on these works are remarkable, how do you achieve them?

Last year I purchased a gas kiln to have in addition to my electric kiln. This allowed me to spend more time developing a wider range of glazes. I wanted to still focus on using local materials I’m able to collect and process myself, now using them as a starting point in a glaze’s composition.

These glazes have all been developed using basalt I collected from Murlough Bay in County Antrim, the location that was the focus of my previous solo show with you. The basalt is used in a few different ways: in various percentages, glaze formulas, firing atmospheres and schedules. I want the basalt to be at centre stage, so no other colourants are added. I simply use a select few other materials to really try to get the basalt to sing.

What are the ideas that you are trying to resolve in this body of work?

These pieces are the next step after my last show with you, in 2021. I spent time reviewing that body of work, to figure out which qualities of the work I wanted to lean further into going forward.

I want the work to maintain a presence in a space, to attract and hold attention, to be poised and balanced, to be intriguing and possess depth of form, texture, and surface. I’m trying to make work which is geological but isn’t, that is location based but isn’t, that explores identity but doesn’t. I think I’m trying to express something I can’t quite comprehend or articulate yet – and perhaps I never will be able to.

What else should we know, to better understand this work?

My focus has changed slightly – connection to location is still a key element in my practice, but it is now looser. My interest has shifted to the totality of a place, including the stories and identity that come with it. This mirrors my own current experiences, having moved back to Ireland, or more specifically to the Republic of Ireland, somewhere that I both know and in which I’m still trying to find my own place.

Erskine, Hall & Coe
15, The Royal Arcade
W1S 4SP
Tel: 0207 491 1706

www.ehc.art

Liam Flynn: Online-only exhibition 9 – 17 April 2022

Erskine, Hall & Coe present an online exhibition of works by Irish artist, Liam Flynn (1969 – 2017).

Flynn was especially renowned for his double-rim vessels.  Having developed the double rim through experimentation, he considered this creation as the defining characteristic of his style, one that made his work particularly unique.  He would turn one rim on the outside, and another rim on the inside of a vessel, effectively giving the illusion of a vessel within a vessel.  He liked the mystery this gave to the piece, achieved through a captivating play of light between the different layers.

“The planning for my work starts not at the lathe, but when I’m standing over a log, trying to figure out what sort of vessel will fit into a particular piece of wood…the way I cut the piece from the log can determine the final shape of the vessel. I like to think that I can interpret what way the wood is going to warp but sometimes it can surprise me.” — Flynn

Flynn’s practice of turning wood on a lathe while it was still wet, or ‘green turning,’ allowed the wood to change shape as it dried.  He explained, “movement is a major theme in my work. Because I use green, unseasoned wood, I like to treat the wood as if it were a malleable material; gently removing the excess from the inside, pushing the wood into fluid forms.”  The finished piece is thus an unpredictable union of his technical skill and the chance movement of the wood.  He often blackened his works, which helped to accentuate their forms, carved fluting and other patterns.

Flynn favoured locally sourced woods, working in oak, ash and sycamore, and his interest developed primarily into accentuating the forms and lines of his vessels.  He explained, “the challenge is to keep reinterpreting the forms . . . I’m always striving to find the perfect line.”

Sara Flynn summed up his achievements perfectly: “Liam made truly beautiful objects and leaves a legacy of excellence and honesty.”

Erskine, Hall & Coe
15, The Royal Arcade
W1S 4SP
Tel: 0207 491 1706

www.ehc.art

Small Works, Great Artists – 15^th Feb – 11^th March 2022

Erskine, Hall & Coe are pleased to present their annual Small Works, Great Artists exhibition for the fourth year running.  The show features remarkable 20th century and contemporary work by British and international talent.

Particularly distinctive are new, hand-built sculptures by Taiwanese potter, Zung-Lung Tsai and a beautifully decorated tea bowl by Shoji Kamoda dating from the 1970s, displayed alongside green-glazed, geometric forms by Karen Bennicke, reminiscent of architecture, and thrown coloured stoneware by Jennifer Lee, some of which she produced in Japan.

Other highlights of the show are a stunning footed bowl by Lucie Rie, made of porcelain with golden manganese glaze and terracotta detailing, and a pouring vessel from 1958, the first piece Erskine, Hall & Coe have displayed that was made together by Rie and Hans Coper.

The exhibition of 47 works represents the following artists:

Karen Bennicke, Claudi Casanovas, Joanna Constantinidis, Lucie Rie & Hans Coper, Sara Flynn, Ernst Gamperl, Gwyn Hanssen Pigott, Koji Hatakeyama, Ewen Henderson, Shoji Kamoda, Jacques Kaufmann, Yasuhisa Kohyama, Ryoji Koie, Jennifer Lee, Shozo Michikawa, Machiko Ogawa, Lucie Rie, Inger Rokkjær, Tatsuzo Shimaoka, Zung-Lung Tsai, Gertrud Vasegaard, John Ward

See all the works in the exhibition here 

Erskine, Hall & Coe
15, The Royal Arcade
W1S 4SP
Tel: 0207 491 1706

www.ehc.art

John Ward – Online Exhibition 9 – 17 December 2021

Erskine, Hall & Coe are pleased to present an online-only exhibition of ten exquisite works by acclaimed British artist, John Ward.

Born in London in 1938, Ward studied ceramics under Hans Coper and Lucie Rie at the Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts in London.  He established his first workshop in London in 1971 and spent several years working as a part-time potter and teacher.  Following his move to Pembrokeshire, Wales in 1979, he focused entirely on making ceramics.

Ward’s pots draw their greatest influences from ancient and modern sources, including early Cypriot and Persian bowls, and Chinese and Egyptian pre-glaze pottery, along with the work of Coper, Rie and Ian Godfrey.  They are distinguished for their understated yet sometimes complex structures often embellished with abstract and geometric patterns.  Ward has said, “my aim is to make pots which have simple forms with integral decoration and aspects which can interact with the environment in interesting ways; to try and express a balance between these dynamic qualities and a sense of stillness or containment.”

The beauty of the Welsh coastal landscape that surrounds Ward is echoed in his ceramics, intrinsic to their aesthetic identity.  “Being near the sea has probably had an effect on the banded decoration I use, either reflecting the movement of water and waves or the dips and folds of the strata revealed in cliff faces.”

The Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford and the Museum of Design in Zurich are among the public collections that represent his work.

“There is something compelling about the making of pots, regardless of function, which keeps me within the particular sphere; they are the focus of many interests and associations.”

All quotes by John Ward

Erskine, Hall & Coe
15, The Royal Arcade
W1S 4SP
Tel: 0207 491 1706

www.ehc.art