“Here, there is something indefinable, where astonishment forces us to abandon all search for the known. Thus begins a journey of the gaze and, as far as l’m concerned, a fascination for a world that preserves the magic of the unknown.”
Photographer Fao Wardson commenting on my work.
I make studio ceramics. Landscape is pivotal to my work, expressed in an oblique way. A distillation of my responses to mud and weather, transient moments of sun and season and the clay in my hand.
Like the changing weather, my approach constantly shifts as I explore shapes, colours, textures and markings. Enduring themes emerge and repeat as I move between making small pots, sculptures and large vessels, with all that entails: clay recycling; making the form; mark-making; tests; glazing; multiple firings; failure and mess.
See and buy my work
From time to time there are pieces available for sale on this website, see “available” , which will allow you to buy that piece direct from my studio.
My work is on sale at selected galleries:
Bircham gallery
Holt, North Norfolk
Contemporary Ceramics Centre
Great Russell Street, London, WC1B 3BF (opposite the British Museum).
Use the contact form to get in touch and find out more.
Find me on Instagram Sarah Jenkins Ceramics where I regularly post images of my work.
During Higher Education I studied Fine Art and became interested in ceramics. My education included a diploma by Independent study, where I focused on ceramics. I lived in London for many years making ceramics sporadically, earning a living in the building trade as a plasterer and decorator.
I moved back to my roots in north Essex several years ago, working as a dedicated artist, making ceramics and exhibiting in galleries across the UK and beyond.
I live and work in north Essex, my studio is surrounded by farmland.
All my work is inspired by landscape. I use a combination of basic slips, glazes and oxides that are matt and earthy. I build pieces by hand, sometimes assembling slabs, and sometimes starting by coiling.
Each stage takes time and has its own meaning. Mark-making demands that I stay in the moment. Pieces are usually fired several times before they are completed.
Sculptural work
Most of my sculptural work to-date is slab-built. I aim to distil the expanse of landscape into a concentrated structure, evocative of walks, memories of weather and texture.
Vessels
I like the word vessel and the association with boats as a mode of travel and the broader possibilities of being a container. For these large pots I mostly work towards simple timeless forms. I am inspired by memories of ancient ceramics I loved to see in museums when I was young.
Be aware that my pieces are not watertight, the vessels are sacred and ceremonial, not intended or suitable for flowers or food.
Small pots
I have come to find these smaller pots as an important way to bring new shapes and colours to life. I have the same intentions with them as the larger vessels. Each one is a unique creation individually crafted.
More work
My work also includes framed wall-mounted pieces. In the past I have made prize-winning slip-cast lampshades, one of which is in the collection of The Museum de Carouge in Geneva.
There was a time when my work referenced landscape more directly. Landscape is still pivotal, but now in a more internal, abstracted and oblique way. The clay structure is the earthy foundation, the surface marks, colours and textures are transient moments of weather, light and season.
More about my work…
I am constantly on a quest for the right resonating frequency, a human response, describing nature and the rightness of it – a search for truth.
This all means that my work keeps evolving and changing. The finished works have been described as having contrasting appearances. Some, with glazes and brighter colours on the external surface, look very different to the slip-finished matt, un-glazed pieces, where often contrasting slips highlight the surface textures.
Despite the differences, there’s an underlying consistency of intent, a continued connection to landscape. I follow my inspiration, always building by hand, finding different paths to the same goals. Although the different responses mean there is variety, common to all approaches there is a shared thread: hand-building; using clay and celebrating landscape in its broadest sense.
