Fiona Thompson
Artist's Statement:
My work focuses on the non functional vessel; forms include teapots, plates, and cylindrical forms with tiny handles, making reference to function and decoration. I am particularly interested in what a piece becomes when the function is 'removed', and why it is often felt necessary for a ceramic vessel to have a utilitarian use. The focus is predominantly on the surface; imagery is built up in layers on the handbuilt forms. Coloured slips are brushed and monoprinted on; a ceramic pigment based ink is used to monoprint and screenprint images and text directly and indirectly onto the surface. Lines are incised into the unfired surface. Layers of matt and glossy glaze are also applied, and occasionally transfers. The scale usually ranges from around 18cm in height to 90cm in height.
The juxtaposition of overlapping photographic images, text and abstract marks and lines defining space on the surface is intended to reflect a personal response to the way in which we experience a particular place. Current work is a response to visual and written information gathered from a variety of places, including Malta, Cyprus and different locations in Scotland; photographs, souvenirs, postcards, travel guides and other tourist information. Some places are revisited over a period of time becoming more familiar, others on a one- off trip, reflecting varied approaches to the interpretation of material. Some of the images or text selected were developed in response to specific events and experiences on a holiday or trip, whilst also referring to the visual language of tourism in general. The work refers in some respects to the notion of the travel diary; and how a place is perceived through the eyes of a visitor or tourist.
Photographic imagery is particularly important as a major device for experiencing travel and tourism; we often experience a holiday predominantly through the medium of the camera. Research currently underway is focused on representations of tourism, in particular through the printed photographic image; it will explore issues of narrative and visual language through the medium of printed ceramics. Focusing initially on specific objects and souvenirs as a starting point, new work will also draw from relevant tourism theory.