Gaudy Welsh Series
Piecing together fragments from a range of eclectic influences, I create mischievous vessels which explore personal and Welsh identity and the role of skill in today’s society. I manipulate clay as a metaphor for the continually shifting natures of these identities.
Combining elements from Victorian era ‘Gaudy Welsh’, American Abstract Expressionism and British country pottery traditions, I rip, fracture and reconfigure wheel thrown forms. I approach making as unselfconscious improvisation, nurturing that sense of childhood curiosity from when my awareness of individual identity first started to develop. These ‘Grandma Punk’ pots combine kitsch patterns from historical Welsh ceramics with forms that reject pretence and refinement. They embrace irregularity and uncertainty, joy and humour; values I view as central to our identity.
‘Elin is a Spring goddess, making vases, breaking vases and reconstructing vessels with such jauntiness and fluency of historical referencing they make the heart sing.’
- Circle Contemporary, ‘Mind the Gap’ 2021