Can you start by introducing yourself and sharing an overview of your artistic practice?
I’m Jane Cairns and I make hand built, mainly slab built, sculptural ceramics and wall pieces. My work responds to ordinary and overlooked things I notice around in the urban environment and I am particularly interested in the visual and formal aspects of these; form, shape, colour, composition and so on.
What led you to explore ceramics? Was there a specific moment or inspiration that sparked your interest in working with clay?
I started adult education night classes in my 30s, this was before the current growth in open access workshops and the local college is where you went to try pottery, and really enjoyed it. I was probably looking for a change in direction anyway but I went to Ceramic Art London one year and realised that the way people got really good at ceramics was dedicating time to it and I made the decision to apply to university to do a ceramics degree.
Did you receive formal training in ceramics?
I did a BA at the University of Westminter which is what the Harrow ceramics course had become. My year was the last full time year for that course and it’s now closed. I graduated in 2011
Where do you typically find inspiration for your art? Are there specific locations or experiences that have directly inspired your work for Edgelands?
I find inspiration everywhere and take lots of quick phone pictures of apparently insignificant details of city life that catch my eye. For Edgelands though it is a very specific landscape, the Thames Path from North Greenwich to my studio which is by the Thames Barrier. This is a fascinating part of the river, still very industrial but with that neglected inbetween-ness that makes a great edgeland.
Can you walk us through your creative process, from concept to completion?
I normally start with direct observation, so a quick photo caught while I am doing something else. I’ll then work with those images, cropping, rotating, to get to what formal aspect has attracted me, it might be a row of holes, the angle between a railing and a wall or the colour and shape of the blocks of a factory building. I’m trying to put a bit of distance between the source and my work and distil the aesthetic element.
For the wall pieces I’ll do some very basic sketching, to get the blocks of the composition and work out what elements I want to include and how I’m going to approach each but I want to get quite quickly to working it out with clay.
I work from big plaster bats and work backwards in that the first thing I put on the plaster will be the top of the finished pieces. I use mark making into the plaster and thin layers of slip to pick that out, paper resist to mask areas and then a thicker layer of white slip directly onto the plaster. I then roll a slab of clay and paint various coloured slips onto that. I then place that slip side down onto the white slip on the plaster. As the plaster absorbs the moisture the white slip sticks to the coloured slip and comes away when I lift it.
There is an element of cropping as I trim the slab to find the best composition and then it is left to dry really slowly before bisque firing.
After firing I can continue to add to the surface with oxide washes and engobes and after glaze firing I sometimes rub back and sand the surface or finish with a layer of stone wax.
How would you describe the pieces you’ll be exhibiting at County Hall Pottery Gallery? What do you hope viewers take away from them? Can you talk about the specific materials and techniques you are using for this exhibition?
For Edgelands I have made a new group of wall pieces that specifically reference the Thames Path near my studio. They include the jetties, wharves and factories on that part of the river. This series are less abstract than previous wall pieces and have more focus on composition.
What are you currently working on? Are there any upcoming projects or exhibitions we should look forward to?
Next big thing in my diary is Ceramic Art London in May. After it being a trigger to me deciding to study ceramics full time nearly 20 years ago I’m actually quite proud to be taking part for the third time this year.
View the price list for the artwork Jane is displaying and available to purchase in our Edgelands exhibition here, and follow Jane on Instagram here!
To take part in a County Hall Pottery exhibition or to speak to the team, please email gallery@countyhallpottery.com