Alice Shields: Selected works, 2021-2024
Ceramic Strata, 2023-2024
Ceramic Strata is a body of work exploring themes of connectedness to place through the act of walking. Its origin began in response to a residency undertaken in Bristol, (UK) in 2023.
I documented my walk through various modes of writing, drawing, and sound recording, which in turn were transcribed into mark-making and collaged drawings. These formed the basis of a template to construct my walk into three-dimensional form. I bricolage ceramic materials, combining different clay bodies and glazes in various states of malleability to create a ceramic strata. Each layer depicts an element of my walk from the formal architectural qualities of its urban landscape to its textures, sounds and smells experienced. An ephemeral moment captured indefinitely in material.’
Disruption, Direction, 2023
‘‘Disruption, Direction’ presents works by five ceramic artists, generated throughout and as a product of a year of monthly peer critique sessions. The sessions have prompted the artists to engage in playful experimentation, allowing the materials and mediums to communicate and guide their creative process. They embrace improvisation and freedom, challenging established hierarchies and systems in their artistic practice and society. Their works invite reflection and contemplation, encouraging viewers to slow down, observe intricate details, and develop a deeper awareness of their surroundings. Through their non-traditional approaches, these artists find new directions for self-expression, fun and spontaneity; pushing their own boundaries and capturing the essence of fleeting moments or environments.’
Excerpt from ‘Disruption, Direction’ (2023) press release. A group exhibition at Centrespace Gallery, Bristol (UK) Curated by and featuring Guy Marshall-Brown, Chloe Monks, Steven Sales, Alice Shields and Jessica Thorn.
Known/Unknown, 2021-2022
‘Drawn to liminal spaces, I am interested in how certain sites can gain qualities over time. Using walking as a tool to explore my relationship to place, I learn its language by visiting certain routes over and over again, documenting its characteristics.
I am curious to see whether the material qualities inherent within clay reflect the idiosyncrasies of my sites and vice versa. Coloured porcelain, repetition of mark making and making processes, enable me to revisit the formal attributes of my sites. I use component-based pieces alongside additional materials to develop an abstracted interpretation of my walks.’
Known/Unknown is an ode to the BS4 area of Bristol.
Captions
- BS2 0TQ.7, 2024, Porcelain, Stoneware, Ceramic Materials, Repurposed ceramic, 10 x 8 x 8 cm. Photo by Alice Shields
BS8 3AD.1, 2023, Porcelain, Stoneware, Glaze, 12.5 x 11 x 8 cm. Photo by Guy Marshall-Brown
BS8 3AD.3 (#1), 2023, Porcelain, Earthenware, Glaze, Kiln brick, 11 x 9 x 7 cm. Photo by Guy Marshall-Brown
BS8 3AD.3 (#2), 2023, Porcelain, Glazes, 11 x 11 x 13 cm. Photo by Guy Marshall-Brown
BS8 3AD.5, 2023, Porcelain, Earthenware, Glaze, 10 x 11 cm. Photo by Guy Marshall-Brown
BS2 0TQ.8, 2024, Porcelain, Earthenware, Glaze, Ceramic Materials, Repurposed ceramic, 12 x 12 x 5 cm. Photo by Alice Shields - BS2 0TQ.2, 2023, Porcelain, Earthenware, Glaze, 10 x 10 x 6 cm. Photo by Hattie Ellis
BS2 0TQ.4, 2023, Porcelain, Glaze, 12 x 6 x 5 cm. Image 1 by Hattie Ellis, Image 2 by Guy Marshall-Brown
BS2 0TQ.5, 2023, Porcelain, Stoneware, Glaze, 10 x 10 x 6 cm. Image 1 by Hattie Ellis, Image 2 by Guy Marshall-Brown - 15/08/20, 2021, Porcelain, Cotton, Pins, 45 x 35 cm. Photo by Alice Shields
27/02/21, 2022, Stoneware, Porcelain, Glazes, Mixed Materials, 35 x 25cm. Photo by Alice Shields
