NEW ART AT KALPA | Poetic and intense ceramics by Patricia Shone

FEATURED ARTIST

THE IMMENSITY OF THE ISLE OF SKYE INCISED IN PATRICIA SHONE’S CERAMICS

Beneath the thin eroding soils of the Scottish Highlands, lies the constant and immutable presence of rock, the form beneath the surface. Living and working for the past twenty-five years on the fascinating Isle of Skye, part of the Inner Hebrides archipelago, ceramist Patricia Shone (1962) takes inspiration from the powerful landscape of this island, legendary for both the mythology and culture that surround it.

Her artistic production, particularly the Erosion Jars series presented at KALPA since 2023, encompasses the core of this dramatic scenery, reflecting the formation and erosion activities of the land in ancient geology. The peculiar and natural texture produced by the clay of these evocative pieces develops in response to the artist’s deep connection with the inhabitants of the island, their history, and their passage across time.

“The textures of my work are here on a massive scale in the mountains, and it’s fundamentally the same material. So here, on the Isle of Skye, inspiration is all around me, under my feet and in my hands.”

Shone's pieces are hand-formed by texturing and stretching from solid lumps of clay: rather than creating abstract forms, she focuses on functional objects, boxes, bowls and jars all of which are innately human vessels. The differing colouring of her works is achieved most of all by the various techniques and firing processes she experiments with, such as raku firing (soft earthenware blacks and greys), wood firing (warm earth tones and glazed stoneware), and charcoal saggar firing within the wood kiln (dark greys and matt glazes). This gives Shone’s work a wide range of textures and densities of surface and body, reflecting the diverse range of landforms.

“My interest in the effects of human action – handling and using each piece – has helped me to find techniques that encourage the development of textures on the surface of a tight and formal vessel. There is a tension between the texture of the exterior and the expected functionality of the inside, held together by the outline of the rim that joins the two.”

Shone’s creative process has progressed following a short period of learning with Japanese ceramist Shozo Michikawa, who uses the wheel to convey a sense of energy and spontaneity. She now creates all of her work by hand, preferring the slower process and the more static results.

The Erosion Jars are functional vessels in stoneware fired in charcoal saggars which are filled with combustibles in order to produce an oxygen-starved atmosphere during the firing. This is a technique that Shone has been developing during her career to achieve the dark colours and stone-like qualities of the mountainous environment where she lives.

Graduated in Ceramics from the Central School of Art of London in 1985, Shone has been a selected member of the Craft Potters Association since 2015 and has exhibited in many juried exhibitions. In 2019 she was announced the winner of the Emmanuel Cooper Prize at Ceramic Art London 2019, with works selected for the permanent collection at the Victoria & Albert Museum. Exhibitions and art fairs in which she has taken part in recent years include 25 years of making solo-show at The Scottish Gallery, 2024; Contemporary Raku at Contemporary Ceramics Centre, London, 2022; Collect promoted by Craft Scotland at Saatchi Galleries, London, in 2018 and 2019; Ceramic Art London in 2019; Fired Earth at The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh, in 2018; Homo Faber: creating a more human future, an international event at the Michelangelo Foundation in Venice and Earth & Fire, at The Harley Gallery, at the American Craft Council show Baltimore, both in 2018.

"It’s not a comfortable landscape, you can’t ignore it and imagine that humanity can exist here without hard work. There’s a humility required and a stubbornness. The soil is thin, the summers are short, the sea is cold, the midgies are relentless, the wind can knock you down, the air is exquisite and the light on the hills takes your breath away.”

Patricia Shone's Erosion series brings the majestic wilderness of the Island of Skye in the AMAN New York hotel's unique interiors.

In the spectacular social areas of the 14th floor of the brand-new hotel AMAN New York, guests may take the chance to meet and immerse themselves in a scenery of nature-nourished art, embracing its energy and lightness. In the lounge area, the elegant minimalism of the architecture is constellated by a selection of Shone’s raku firing ceramic bowls and vases from the Erosion series, adding to the ambiance both the memories of an epic distant landscape.