Plymouth City Museum & Art Gallery
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Plymouth Porcelain: A new collection by Clare Twomey
Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery, until 2013
Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery’s new commission as part of New Expressions 2 has seen Clare Twomey install 33 new items of porcelain into the collection, hovering in a space in the Museum’s Atrium Gallery.
Manufacture and process is always an integral part of Twomey’s practice and Plymouth experienced this first hand when the initial stages of manufacture for ‘Plymouth Porcelain: A New Collection’ were carried out in the Museum.
On 18 and 19 November the foyer was transformed into a casting studio where objects nominated by members of the public and selected by Clare were brought in and cast before the owners’ eyes.
The first stages in this casting process involved using an alginate (a very delicate rubber) to make a mould of items without damaging them. These moulds were then transported to Plymouth College of Art where student volunteers poured them with plaster to create replica items.
The benefits of meeting with the artist and seeing the initial stages of manufacture engaged visitors deeply with the new work, allowing them to see things take place before them and gain a deeper understanding of ceramic manufacture and the casting process. A wide range of items were selected and brought in, from a Christopher Dresser vase to a jug decorated by Clarice Cliff, from items by local potteries in Dartmouth and Bideford to ones further afield in Japan and Singapore.
Each item has been nominated by their owner for various reasons, many in memory of friends or family passed away or because of related emotions and memories. Each object tells a story, from how it was collected to where it sits in the owner’s home. The importance of the objects has been captured in the re-cast items and is now an integral part of Clare’s new artwork. Against the back drop of the Museum’s historic collection, this new commission looks to the future by capturing the stories of Plymouth people today.
The plaster replicas created during the casting days were sent to London where they were re-cast in a brilliant white porcelain at Clare’s studio at the Victoria & Albert Museum where she is ceramicist in residence. The final pieces were installed in February 2012 as part her commissioned artwork.
Twomey’s commission, ‘Plymouth Porcelain: A New Collection’, will be displayed in Plymouth Museum and Art Gallery from 14 February 2012, for two years.
Artist Profile
Clare Twomey
Clare Twomey works directly with clay, frequently in collaboration with the ceramics industry, and constructs large-scal...view here
