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Robyn Lewis

I am incurably attracted to the 'object' and the 'vessel'.... and that, I suppose, is what led me to clay initially. As a student I had a background in producing functional ware but quickly became frustrated by the limitations imposed by function and technical considerations. I needed to challenge the 'laws' whilst not wanting to disown the tradition. There is a huge established vocabulary of shapes and forms, and these are my major influence; expressing my continued attachment to the vessel, with its myriad associations, archaeological, cultural and anthropomorphic. In this way I continue to refer to and pay respect to one of the oldest ceramic traditions. The vessels are sometimes perversely nonfunctional, expressing simply that function is not what they are about... not the reason for their existence. There is conflict between the apparent strength and solidarity arising from their large scale and a feeling of precarious balance on small bases. Recently the asymmetrical silhouette has become the important element of the form and the volume is compressed into two dimensions, or onto one plane. In this way I can use the surface as a canvas, exploiting the plasticity of the material in an expressive painterly way, cutting and scoring to create depth and texture. Decorating the forms is perhaps the most exciting part for me. I work very intuitively and am inspired from all directions, from naïve and ethnic art, to architecture, furniture, textiles and fashion. Since returning to live in N.Z. I am rediscovering this landscape, and the abstracted shapes of hills and horizon lines are a strong influence currently. This limits the palette to earthy natural tones. I hope some of the intense enjoyment I feel in the making, shows through in the work. I work in other mediums, including painting and felting, and the same themes present themselves.

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