Jasper Blues

My focus of research within ceramic design has been to explore the creative potential for cutting through coloured, laminated clay bodies to reveal the subtle patterning arising from irregularities in form. As a result I was commissioned by Josiah Wedgwood and Sons Ltd. to develop a prestige collection of ceramics based on their iconic blue Jasperware.

The research entailed developing what was essentially a studio-based one-off process into a method applicable to factory production. The work extended into three collections, which were intended to demonstrate that the traditions of Jasperware could be expressed to develop unique and contemporary outcomes. The work produced was initially exhibited at the V&A, London, in four vitrines in the Rotunda entrance. Under the banner of ‘Extending Traditions’ a title coined by Paul Greenhalgh, Head of Research at the V&A, the work was shown alongside Wedgwood objects from the V&A collection, revealing a contextualised continuity of production and process.

Josiah Wedgwood has a rich tradition of collaborating with designers and artists over the past 200 years and is an international company with outlets for its high quality ceramics in most major cities, including New York and Tokyo. Following the preview at the V&A the collection was subsequently launched at a showpiece exhibition of contemporary Wedgwood collaborations over the past ten years, in the Galleria, at Ambiente in Frankfurt in 2002. (Ambiente is the world’s largest tableware and interior design fair.) During Design Week in Tokyo the collection was again presented in their flagship store. The largest part of the original collection was bought by American collectors, and has recently been the subject of research there into designer collaborations with Wedgwood.

Kathryn Hearn

Research Interests

Development and production of limited edition ceramic decorative vessels, use of moulds in a more fluid state, specifically sand casting, working with Jasper clay in collaboration with Wedgwood

Current Research

During the last 5 years my research work has included the development and production of unique and limited edition ceramic decorative vessels. They fall into three categories: Long term development of working with cast porcelain, using a range of colours in combination to produce pots for exhibition. This work is a celebration of the material, is informed by the techniques and processes and also by the natural and built environment; The use of moulds in a more fluid state, specifically sand casting, which is usually a metal casting process but adapting it into a ceramic context enabled me to produce larger and one off pieces; The collaboration with Wedgwood which has involved working with the Jasper clay body in both small and large scale. The research has also provided me with an opportunity to challenge the notion of Jasper as a decorative medium in a more contemporary idiom. I have completed work for their Prestige range. The use of ceramic bodies, in colours and qualities to explore form and surface in decorative ceramics. Chiefly using porcelain but also other ceramic bodies that have intrinsic individual qualities that are able retain identity when being manipulated. This exploration is often undertaken in collaboration with the production industries in order to challenge convention of expected norms in aesthetic, production and context.