Women and Pattern

'Women and Pattern' at The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, Durham, showcased unique, 'one-off' ceramic artworks created by Charlotte Hodes over the past decade.

The exhibition, in a huge cabinet, with the Bowes refurbished ceramic Collections set up a dynamic between the historical and contemporary, triggering touchstones for the way in which the researcher uses references to historical ornament, pattern and ceramic form within her practice-led research.

The exhibition presented examples of work from the researcher's residencies at the ceramic factory, Spode and The Wallace Collection, up to the present day, and included vases as well as examples of her 2019 tableware installation 'After the Taking of Tea'.

See:
After the Taking of Tea, 2019 http://ualresearchonline.arts.ac.uk/13979/
Dressed in Pattern 2016 http://ualresearchonline.arts.ac.uk/9668/
Silhouettes & Filigree 2009 http://ualresearchonline.arts.ac.uk/2648/
Fragmented Images 2007 http://ualresearchonline.arts.ac.uk/8824/

Hodes practice crosses a range of processes and she is renowned for her large intricate papercuts and ornate ceramic vessels. Central to her work is the exploration of the female figure and its relationship to decoration and pattern. She uses standard vessel forms and everyday tableware, which she treats as her 'canvas', to build up rich and complex surfaces through a direct process of drawing and collage. Two overriding themes exemplified in the work displayed is the relationship between the pictorial and the pattern, and the representation of women.

The exhibition is to be extended.

• https://www.thebowesmuseum.org.uk/Exhibi...