The physical and cultural landscape and environment I find myself in is hugely important to my current work and development. Opportunities to travel, research and make work internationally have been important to me recently but opportunities to work locally are also perfectly situated for the development of my practice and the themes present in my work.

Relocating to Aberdeen from Glasgow last May and moving into Deemouth Artist Studios Torry last November was an attempt to root my practice closer to home. Based in Aberdeen i am often referred to as a ‘Nomadic Ceramicist’ exhibiting my work nationally and internationally as well as working with a range of artists, institutions and on various public projects.

Initially motivated by an investigation of my own family heritage and material culture my recent work engages with concepts of craft, material and place. Making narrative work that considers traditional and contemporary practice as well our collective connections to heritage and tradition largely through ceramic slip casting and atmospheric firing.

Thematically my recent work has been shaped by northern landscapes, exploring themes of identity and place often through local eating and drinking cultures, focusing on these narratives and rituals associated with living within northern places, and how these actions preserve intimate and strong connections towards ‘north’ as itself, a place.

Since March 2020 I’ve been trying to view ‘limitations’ in my working environment as refreshing focusing on the liberating aspects of being forced to get out of this comfort zone as a maker and in a similar way to my experience in Iceland embrace more ‘limited’ local materials (such as granite), tools and familiar ways of working. As well as attempting to achieve results typically found in atmospheric firing (specifically salt or soda firing) in an oxidation (electric kiln) and/or reduction (gas kiln) atmosphere, researching and developing a new body of press moulded work and slip cast work alongside this glaze and firing research.

The use atmospheric firing is a continuation of technology and tradition from ancient history into contemporary practice,the characteristic earthen tones, ash deposits, burnt sienna flashings, natural glaze surfaces, and spontaneous effects, are something I embrace in my firing as well as my making processes. I continue to build on and develop the use of atmospheric firing in my own work as well as the use of natural materials. Developing my understanding and maximizing the nuances of atmospheric firing and its relationship to form and surface.
The practice of contemporary makers today is an extension of the lineage of practitioners who have gone before them, and I hope to make work that contributes to this.My family and friends have always reduced, reused and recycled for practical, economic as well as ecological reasons. I endeavour to lead my own life including my practice as a maker, with these environmental considerations in mind by researching and responding to aspects of sustainability with new materials, methods and processes in my practice. This further challenge me to produce work that interacts between object, material and environment, questioning how these objects are produced and fit into contemporary dialogue around consumption.