Temporary Exhibitions
Caroline Sharp
Caroline makes woven, clay and wood sculptures, which are strongly influenced by natural form, containment and movement. They are in essence about energy - energy within the soil and earth transformed within seeds and the emerging growth.
The woven forms are based on organic seedpod forms and the importance of respecting the character and properties of the materials used is paramount. The tips of the stem, the catkins and buds are left exposed to suggest fragility and transience.
The process of weaving woods has always been a form of meditation to Caroline and the process and joys of slow making are increasingly important to her. The coppiced stems used are mainly birch, willow, dogwood, hazel and white poplar.
These current explorations have involved the use of both clay and wood in creating sculptural forms suggestive of seeds. The added stems suggest sprouting, green shoots and windblown aids to dispersal. The materials used include stoneware clay, local clay slips, willow and birch ash glazes and a variety of coppiced stems. Leaf Form 2 is one of three pieces made using leaves from a Bay tree, they have been a meditation on growing, gathering, sorting and grading, grouping and building up the layers and the change over time as the piece dries out.
Caroline’s practice has always been about her connection to nature’s seasonal shifts and the pandemic has further heightened and reinforced her sustainable approach. Her making is slow, seasonal and meditative: - the growing and gathering of coppiced material; the weaving of layers; the hand coiling of the clay.
carolinesharp.co.uk
instagram.com/carolinesharpartist
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