Jo Woffinden is a designer-maker and materials specialist who creates objects with strong references to architectural space and form. This series of work combines organic curves with architectural form to create a kind of organic geometry.
“The ceramic pieces are made from Japanese Shigaraki clay and were part of a wider body of work titled ‘Strata’ created while I was working in Japan. The pieces were hand built from slabs of coloured clays layered together. There were technical challenges involved in the making process, one being the different shrinkage rates of the clays compressed together. The work has been fired to 1260°C and is non porous even though mostly unglazed.
I like to show unexpected qualities in materials, for example the softness and smooth velvet-like feeling of raw unglazed ceramic as in the vessels on show or the more stone-like qualities of the shamotte and grog filled clay used to make some of the more fluid forms. The rich materiality and texture of Shigaraki clay is what led me to work most recently with concrete for both sculptural and tableware design objects, in which I also like to reveal unexpected material qualities.”
“My curiosity with the mysteries evoked through partially concealed spaces both within architecture and aspects of Japanese culture, influenced the use of layers and folds in the work I made at this time. I also experimented with the relationships of forms as part of a group or pair and the way in which they interacted with space and light.”
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