Can you start by introducing yourself and sharing an overview of your artistic practice?
I’m Rebecca Appleby, an artist working across sculpture, ceramics, drawing and painting. My work is a continual exploration of the tension between industry and nature as I examine structure, order and control, alongside chaos, expression and destruction.
I trained in ceramics at Edinburgh College of Art though my work pushes the boundaries of traditional ceramics. I incorporate steel structures that not only support the clay but also compromise the clay as it shrinks and cracks around the steel. I have also devised a range of mark making techniques to respond to the surface of the clay much as I would approach a drawing or painting. My aesthetic translates across all surfaces, be it paper, steel, clay or canvas.
What led you to explore ceramics? Was there a specific moment or inspiration that sparked your interest in working with clay?
David Roberts introduced me to clay as a material on my Pre BA foundation course. As soon as I was handed the small lump of raku clay to make my very first pinch pot I was hooked. I loved the tactile quality of the material that responded to every touch. David was and still is (I have kept in touch with David over the years) a great man who taught me so much. His enthusiasm and passion for the subject and material is infectious.
Did you receive formal training in ceramics?
Yes. It was David Roberts that suggested I go to Edinburgh College of Art to study for my degree, as at that time it had an excellent ceramics department.
I used my time as a college student to technically explore many different areas of ceramics. I was told on my foundation that skill and experience is paramount, and ideas and concepts would come at a later date. With this in mind I concentrated on building my ‘toolbox of skills’.
I was hungry to learn and at that time the material itself & its possibilities & limitations were more important to me than the concept behind the work. My degree show comprised of several large-scale figures, unrecognisable from the work I now make.
Where do you typically find inspiration for your art? Are there specific locations or experiences that have directly inspired your work for Edgelands?
I observe the remnants of demolition sites—landscapes where buildings once stood. My focus is on the life cycle of materials, once organic, now shaped for functional use in architecture. These structures, vessels for human life and activity, are not permanent. When they reach the end of their lifespan, they are dismantled, reduced to fragments still infused with memories, history, and spirit. Some of these fragments find new life, repurposed in future projects. I am captivated by this transitional landscape, existing on the threshold between civilization and wilderness. It is a liminal space, where the built environment dissolves and hints of wildness emerge, mirroring the themes explored in Edgelands by Paul Farley and Michael Symmons Roberts. It is here, in this in-between, where the past blurs with the untamed, offering a glimpse of nature’s quiet reclamation.
This process reflects the human condition and life cycle. As buildings serve as vessels for activity, our own lives are similarly contained within a finite span. We, too, carry the weight of memory, history, and experience, and like structures, our bodies break down over time, eventually returning to the earth in fragments. Yet, even in this disintegration, traces of who we were—our spirit, our essence—persist. Like the recycled remnants of demolished buildings, parts of us remain, influencing future generations and ideas. This cyclical process, much like the landscapes in Edgelands, symbolises a boundary where life’s remnants blur with something larger, something untamed, reflecting our shared journey from creation to dissolution, and, in some form, regeneration.
Can you walk us through your creative process, from concept to completion?
I frequently collect abandoned and overlooked urban/industrial fragments or objects. I like the idea that these objects had a former life, history or use that is now redundant so they are discarded and handed over to nature to reclaim. I like the abstract nature these shapes and forms offer that suggest a former use but exist as a series of shapes, forms surfaces and textures. I also see these objects as pieces of urban archaeology that in years to come will offer clues and suggestions about the way we lived as a civilization.
I think as visual people seeing, experiencing, and observing new things is imperative. It may seem obvious to say that observation is an invaluable part of an artist’s practice, but for me, it’s a research method and form of image collection that I have developed over the years – from drawing and painting in sketchbooks and making cardboard maquettes to forming slabs in clay. Observation has become as integral to my process as making and firing, and without the ability to observe and record my surroundings I think my work would be very different.
I like the notion that from a small mark on a wall, a spray-painted number on a paving slab, a rusted sheet of corrugated metal or broken piece of rubber, it is possible to see beyond ideas of unsightly detritus and reinterpret those markings or objects through the creative process.
Where do you create your work? Could you share a bit about your studio or workspace?
Two years ago, I moved with my colleague James Oughtibridge to a new studio at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. We have a very spacious studio built on two levels. We have designated the upstairs space as a dedicated classroom area. The light is beautiful, and the views are amazing. We both agreed if we were to permanently work upstairs, we would be far too distracted by the view out to the YSP and resident highland cattle who like to graze in front of our window! The space lends itself to our five-day courses that we run 6 times a year as Clay Yorkshire. James and I have run courses together for over 7 years now and we are delighted that we are now able to offer our workshops from such a prestigious and inspiring location. Instead of referencing our artists from a book we can now wander down to the YSP to see world class sculpture in person!!
Do you have preferred techniques or materials you work with in ceramics? What draws you to these approaches?
Drawing and painting is integral to my process. It is a large part of my practice, and I will often exhibit sculpture and painting alongside each other if I have the opportunity.
When starting a new body of work, after initial research I will often sketch in a sketchbook to investigate the fundamental design process, essentially shape and form. I will then experiment with surface and texture- sometimes this is an exercise in mark making, and occasionally these will then develop into paintings in their own right. I work larger scale on paper, board and canvas.
The marks that I often use are directly linked to the concept that underpins all my work. My practice examines the ever-present cohabitation and conflict between industry and nature.
Through a series of techniques developed over a 20-year career, my 2D and 3D works are strongly defined by a series of marks and surface contusions that mimic both the manufactured process of industry and the seemingly sporadic, yet calculated occurrences found in nature.
‘Appleby’s work explores and echo’s both the ephemeral & established solidity of her surroundings, offering the viewer thought-provoking pieces & an exemplary dialogue of colour, line and movement’.
One of the techniques I have used to make several pieces in this exhibition explores using metal with clay. Formally, the vessels created as part of this body of work were constructed using slabs of clay draped over an internal steel structure, pierced, and stitched together. As clay shrinks onto a metal frame it begins to wrap, chip & crack reminiscent of ‘concrete cancer’ a term used in the building industry. As the steel reinforcement start to rust, it expands causing cracking and displacement of the surrounding concrete, accelerating the process of disrepair. There are many examples of large-scale concrete boulders with exposed metal rebar in abandoned structures, demolition sites and disaster zones. I relished the challenge & exploration of this idea and process in clay as it traditionally breaks many of rules of ceramics. The metal substrates and mesh were used to intentionally encourage the clay to crack. The work is then fired in the kiln and is colored using underglaze, glaze and other materials.
Both the form and & surface of these ‘architectural/human rubble’ structures represent an abstract expressionist interpretation of human, physical & material trauma.
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?
Several pieces in this exhibition explore fundamental structure in nature, the body and industry/architecture. How the different systems and infrastructures relate and how this research is realised in the form and materiality of a ceramic sculpture.
Nature. The structural designs that occur in nature, in molecules, in crystals, in living cells, are a fascination source of inspiration. Nature at all levels builds responsive and adaptive structures using modular components combined with least-energy structural strategies. I have translated my observations of formation of tree roots into this series of works. Tree roots serve as a store for carbohydrates and form a structural system which supports the trunk and crown.
The Body. I have researched the structural organisation of the human body, it is helpful to consider its basic architecture; that is, how its smallest parts are assembled into larger structures. It is convenient to consider the structures of the body in terms of fundamental levels of organisation that increase in complexity, such as (from smallest to largest): chemicals, cells, tissues, organs, organ systems, and an organism.
Industry/Architecture. Within the context of the built environment, the term ‘structure’ refers to anything that is constructed or built from interrelated parts with a fixed location. Structures can be classified in several ways, for example a solid, frame, shell, membrane, or composite.
I have worked with steel rebar in many of the new structures. This material is known when massed as reinforcing steel or reinforcement steel. It is a steel bar or mesh of steel wires used in construction as a tension device in reinforced concrete and reinforced masonry structures to strengthen and aid the concrete under tension. Concrete is strong under compression but has weak tensile strength.
I am particularly interested in what happens when infrastructure is altered, broken, destroyed, reimagined. My sculptures are constructed using slabs of clay draped over an internal steel structure, pieced & stitched together. Breaking many of the rules of ceramic construction, the steel substrates are used intentionally to encourage the clay to crack & experience trauma. The sculptures are altered and re-imagined through the process of firing. The change that they undergo echoes a phenomenon known in architecture as ‘concrete cancer’, when a steel reinforcement starts to rust and expand, displacing the surrounding concrete, whilst the disfiguration, broken edges & patina are suggestive of the human body experiencing injury, ageing and decay.
The other collection shown the Stela series, explores how clay holds memories, seeing the making process as a transfer of energy from the body into the artwork. This mirrors the idea that energy and life force are absorbed into the fabric of the buildings we occupy. A building, like a vessel, is made of many components and holds life within its walls.
This concept draws from ancient Egyptian beliefs—where plaster death masks were thought to retain the spirit of the deceased—as well as Masaru Emoto’s experiments on water. His research suggests that water responds to thoughts, words, and emotions, forming structured crystals in the presence of positivity and breaking down in response to negativity. Given that our bodies are mostly water, his findings reinforce the idea that consciousness affects physical matter.
My latest Stela sculpture explores life cycles and impermanence. Everything returns to the earth, reminding us that while our time is fleeting, it is ours to fill with experiences and connections. The work embodies transformation: clay becomes brick, bricks form buildings, and eventually, those buildings crumble, returning to dust—ready for new beginnings.
What are you currently working on? Are there any upcoming projects or exhibitions we should look forward to?
I have had a very busy start to the year. I am just back from Collect at Somerset House where I exhibited with &Gallery. I am currently busy back in the studio making some commissioned works, a new Stella collection and preparing for the new season of courses at Clay Yorkshire. There are a couple of things planned for later in the year which I will announce shortly!
View the price list for the artwork Rebecca is displaying and available to purchase in our Edgelands exhibition here, and follow Rebecca on Instagram here!
To take part in a County Hall Pottery exhibition or to speak to the team, please email gallery@countyhallpottery.com