Bronwen Grieves has been quietly and prolifically developing and refining her ideas and process over a 30 year period. Her works strive to balance structure with fluidity, using organic and inorganic forms as a reference point. Largely self-taught, she builds and fires all her work in her garden studio in Nottingham. Her work is informed by her extensive collection of mid century modernist objects and her passion for gardening. As a ceramist she has been developing her craft using flat coils which are incised with horizontal or vertical lines before being fixed together. She builds her pieces using grogged stoneware primarily in black and white; glaze is used sparingly, often limited to slips which are partially rubbed away to reveal the texture and colour beneath.
Bronwen’s work has never been shown publicly until 2018.
Garden studio in Nottingham. Inspiration comes from both the natural and built environments and in particular from industrial machinery, artefacts and structures in the landscape.
Grogged stoneware clay is used to provide strength and flexibility required to build thin walled vessels balanced on fine legs or plinths.
The work is built up using flattened coils of clay which are incised with vertical or horizontal lines before being fixed together.
The work is minimally decorated with white slip which is then mostly rubbed away to reveal the incised lines and rough texture of the stoneware clay.