Rachel Grimshaw: Selected works, 2019-2023

Rachel Grimshaw: Selected works, 2019-2023

My work is about the clay; its pliable, immediate qualities. Like a photograph capturing a ‘frozen moment,’ this material, when fired, fixes forever a gesture, an impression. In my unusual working method of using solid forms, I aim to achieve precision and fluidity, energy and stillness.

Hand building in both solid Parian porcelain and, separately, heavily grogged stoneware, marks are created by impressing found objects into the wet clay, their origins occasionally hinted at. Living in the North of England, the sculptural qualities of landscape find their way into my work; linear imprints referencing the lines of dry stone walls across the contours of a hillside. Some forms allude to the built environment but deliberately avoid explicit references. How the light interacts with a piece is an important factor in the presentation. Although my work has no prescribed narrative, there is a meditative quality, both in the physical making and in the finished piece. I value the function of contemplation my forms bring and their ability to represent the nature of silences.

I often work in twos or a small series of pieces, the mark-making connecting each piece. These work in a dialogue, reflecting, responding, and contradicting, like riffing on a theme.

The stoneware clay is coloured when wet with body stains and oxides, some in muted tones, others humming with intensity. The pieces are fired in an electric kiln over three days. In pushing the material to its limits, my wish is to explore three-dimensional shapes which seem to change from every angle while retaining a real sense of the qualities of clay.

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