For this year's Artweeks Helen will be exhibiting alongside 9 other ceramicists who have been developing their practice at Fired Up Studios, producing what promises to be an eclectic celebration of the many forms clay can take.

Artist's statement:
Alongside making "normal" thrown pottery, I really enjoy using thrown forms in an unusual way, often making double walled vessels thrown either in one piece or by assembling several thrown parts to create work which has an internal form quite different to the exterior profile. These pieces don't usually have a prescribed position they’re made to rest and be viewed from a number of angles, but they don't ever reveal all that is within, allowing a new exploration of the work to take place with every resting position; some are designed to be cradled and turned over in the hands, the burnished surfaces delightfully smooth in contrast to the rough textured areas.

Recently I've been working to refine the interior of my vessels, sometimes decorating the surface with colour or texture, an inscription or adding moving parts which will create a soundscape to the piece when handled. Once I close up the work, the interior becomes inaccessible and unknowable, but if examined closely one might be able get an understanding of what lies within, perhaps where the coloured slip from the inside surface has crept through a seam or is visible at an opening; or by listening to the sounds created as the piece is turned around in your hands and whatever is contained within rolls across internal ridges. Sometimes they have peep holes or tunnels through giving glimpses of parts hidden within or allowing light to pierce through.

The potter John Ward said “In my mind's ear I can hear the eventual cracking of many of (my pots) throughout future years as they tumble from shelves, nudged by cat’s paws or dusters, but I hope some will last into the unimaginable future…” I like to think that when the twitchy cat’s paw comes knocking on my pieces they will finally reveal their secrets and what would have otherwise be perceived as a loss will be welcomed as a transformation, a new way of experiencing & knowing an old familiar thing.