3 - 27 October 2024: Held Ground by Jessica Mason

We are excited to welcome our final guest of the year; Stoke-on-Trent based artist, Jessica Mason.

Private view Wednesday 2nd September 6-8pm

What is the name of your exhibition and can you give us a short sentence summing it up?

The name of the exhibition - ‘held ground’ –  and it derives from some text that I have scribbled in pencil on my studio wall. They are rushed notes from a conversation that I had a few years back, when someone gave me some advice; when making, it is important to allow your work to ‘ground’ itself in you. To essentially give yourself permission to trust the work and your process so that its truth can reflect who you are and not only reflect a personal inner landscape, but also act as a dialogue with a material one.

I write a lot of notes on the walls around me as I work; measurements, rushed drawings of ideas and designs but this is one of the most important ones that I look at. I often take the time to sit and re-centre myself by re-reading it as it helps me hold back from rushing my work and instead try to follow the rhythm of its growth, even when that feels slow and not linear.

How did you end up working with clay and what drew you to it as a material?

I was fortunate that my parents - both Londoners - moved us to Devon and brought an old small farm when I was still really little. It meant that most of  my childhood was spent immersed in the south west which has a  particularly rich history in ceramics due to the abundance of clay there. I remember a pond being dug out in one our fields and just the layer of clay being revealed and finding it fascinating. 

However, It  wasn’t until I was a teenager and did a week of work experience with the slipware potter Doug Fitch, when he was still based at Hollyford Pottery, that I was actually introduced to the world of pottery. I owe a huge amount to Doug as he let me keep coming back to the pottery on an almost weekly basis whilst I finished up at school. It gave me the chance to just play around with clay and slip with absolutely no pressure other than getting to know the material. 

You studied ceramics at Clay College in Stoke-on-Trent which is where you are still based. How did your time at college influence your work and what was the most memorable lesson or moment you had?

The two years I spent at Clay College really pushed my making forward to a place that I could start finding my voice, and gave me enough skill to start to achieve that. Having said that, we were the intake that were most affected by the pandemic so it was a strange time to be doing an entirely skills based course. Though I think this provided me with the extra grit needed to actually set up and get going, so in a strange way I’m grateful that I studied during that time. 

Overall, it  wasn’t ever really one specific lesson but rather a huge variety of bits of insight into new techniques and knowledge from the regular and visiting tutors that you’d pick up on and could add to your own personal ‘tool-kit’. 

Before this, you studied fine art; what from this part of learning do you still use in your pottery today?

My studies at Chelsea College of Art, were really valuable as they shaped my critical thinking and gave the foundational understanding for the context in which I now place my work. As though I see my pots as made for use – primarily functional objects – I also see them through the same lens as I would an installation, sculpture or drawing. 

Following the line within a mug form, through the shape, across and down into the handle is a drawing in and of itself. It is a conversation of form, and if the skill or design is off then you can have a strange disrupt to the line which can jolt you out of the piece and can affect its sense of wholeness. 

You make your work predominantly on a leach style kick wheel; is there a reason you prefer this to making on an electric wheel and do you feel there is a big difference between the two?

It’s more about a state of mind, when I’m working on the kick wheel I’m a bit more tuned in as I’m going slower and more aware of the rhythm. I find it’s a useful tool when I’m working on new designs and I also have certain shapes which just look a bit more relaxed if I’ve made them on the kick wheel. I do also have an electric wheel which I use often also but I use it more for production throwing or if I’m making someone else’s designs for them. 

You fire mostly in gas reduction; for those who don't know can you, in a nutshell, explain the difference between firing reduction and in an electric kiln? And why do you prefer to fire in this way?

When you are firing in a reduction atmosphere you are essentially starving the kiln of oxygen which pushes the flame to steal the oxygen from the clay body and glaze, providing a chemical change and opening up a whole new colour palette of tones derived simply from iron. 

I’ve also never really felt comfortable just turning on a switch and leaving a kiln to fire itself, so a gas kiln is a bit more of an involved way of firing that just appeals to me. I like to see some sort of a flame and a wood kiln of my own is my future hope. At current I try to go and fire different kilns and learn with others as much as I am able. 

Who is a maker whose work you love and admire that we should know about but might not?

The work of Sue Lawty has always been a key reference for me when thinking about texture, surface and materiality. She is an artist rather than a potter, and I do find that I often look towards textiles or sculpture more for inspiration than ceramics. Both my mother, sister and grandmother all specialised and worked in textiles so their work also inspires me. 

What is your favourite part of your process?

I have to say there nothing quite like a pot that has just been dipped in a bucket of white slip. The most glorious moment! 

To be honest though I simply enjoy the whole process of making pots. The fact that one can follow a piece all the way through to its very end, from ground to fire is very satisfying. It’s a cyclical process, which suits me, as in a way it has a seasonal nature to it. 

What do you hope people experience or feel when they see, touch and use your work?

I make tiny lidded boxes, and one of my favourite things is finding out what treasures people store in them. Last year a lady brought a box she had purchased from me previously to show me the beautiful tiny feather she now keeps inside. 

There is nothing more rewarding than someone choosing to use something you've made with your own hands on a daily basis. Functional ware is immediately accepted into the fabric of people’s lives and all limitations of interaction with the piece are removed, allowing for it to hold true space for engagement and a full connection to ritual. This is one of the reasons I knew I would forever find satisfaction in making functional ware and why I came back to it after my BA.

What sights affect and influence you on a regular basis?

Mostly its indirect – I’ll  find when I unload the kiln that even though I hadn’t intended it at all  the pots will exactly match the marks on my studio floor or the stony surface of the steps outside. So it’s often more than not, the industrial  landscape of the studio itself that impacts the work considerably.

I do also try to stop and draw – even though this rarely happens at the moment if I’m very honest - and keep a sketchbook. So some of these drawings and prints influence how I decorate my pots – even though I wouldn’t really call myself a decorator… just more a few scratched marks here and there.

Tell us a bit about your project 'Ground'?

Ground Workshops is a small Stoke-on-Trent based artist-led organisation, which was set up by Natalia Kasprzycka , Katrina Wilde and myself. It grew from a desire to engage people with the material world, deepen understanding of where things comes from and a post-pandemic urge to re-connect people with creativity and nature by simply using their hands. 

We ran an Arts Council England funded workshop series between October '22- April '24 that focused on working seasonally  under a cycle of themes; Soil, Clay, Cloth and Conversation. As makers and artists ourselves, we have belief in the need to understand how things come to be, to deepen connections with the materials world and move away from throw-away culture. We also wanted to bring in a wealth of talented practitioners to stoke to deliver the workshops, in turn supporting local artists and nearby makers. 

We are now currently custodians of a large allotment site in Stoke, near the train station with a couple of other stoke-based creatives. We are looking forward to spend time in nurturing this land, as a place from which to connect people with the material origins around them.

What is the most recent ceramic vessel or piece of pottery you bought for yourself, from where and by whom?

I brought a piece of Brampton ware off Josie Walter during Wardlow Mires Pottery & Food Festival, a few weeks ago. It’s a stew pot, salt glazed, very functional and the handles just feel very human. I have in fact been given an almost matching one, a gift from my granny - she kept it by her stove with her cooking salt in - it has a cracked lid from such constant use, so this one will sit right next to it.