Beyond the Kiln
13 May – 30 June 2024
Our inaugural exhibition, Beyond the Kiln, opened to the public in May 2024, as part of the official London Craft Week programme. The show was co-curated by our Director Emma Louise Payne and artist Alex Simpson. Featuring a diverse group of London-based contemporary artists, including Tana West, Elena Gileva, Connor Coulston, Alex Simpson and Irina Razumovskaya, Beyond the Kiln, explored themes ranging from personal narratives to social and political issues through the medium of ceramics.
Artists
Alex Simpson
Alex Simpson is a British/Austrian Artist who lives and works in London. She graduated with an MA in Ceramics & Glass from the Royal College of Art in 2015. Recent exhibitions include: Loose Ends, Thames Side Studios Gallery London, Undertow Unit 1 Gallery London and Pieces of Earth Taatisten Tila, Finland. This summer she will be undertaking a residency at MenLo, Jingdezhen China. She is a non-executive director of Gaada, a visual arts workshop in Shetland, and an educator in ceramics.
CONNOR COULSTON
Connor Coulston is a Ceramic artist whose practice explores the sometimes garish and sentimental ceramic ornaments that one would typically find in charity shops, museums or that have adorned his grandmother’s fireplace. His work reflects on emotional and personal memories evoked by these mundane objects and reworks these into powerful visual narratives. Coulston uses his often self-deprecating sense of humour to lull his audience into a false sense of security.
ELENA GILEVA
Elena Gileva’s work explores the decorative, historical, and ornamental through the medium of sculpture. Gileva is trained in both ceramics and fine arts, with a MA in Ceramics and Glass from the Royal College of Art and BFA from the Parsons Paris School of Art and Design. Her fascination lies with the language and history of objects. A myriad of references underpin the work but the artist’s interest in Russian folklore is key to understanding her practice.
Irina Razumovskaya
Irina Razumovskaya is a London-based artist and sculptor whose practice is grounded in ceramics. She received her BA and MFA degrees from the Saint Petersburg Stieglitz State Academy of Art and Design, and an МА in Ceramics from the Royal College of Art where she currently works as a tutor. The artist’s diverse works range from abstraction to architectural forms, overlayed with innovative surface effects and glazing,
balancing thought and process.
TANA WEST
Tana West was born 1981 and grew up in Bristol. Now living and working in London, West is an artist working predominantly with ceramic processes, using the language of ceramic materials and object making to connect with social, political, and historical contexts. She studied sculpture at Central St Martins, completing her MA at the Royal College of Art in Ceramics and Glass in 2014. Her work frequently involves place specific and collaborative approaches.