Training and Projects
Photo by Brian Cregan
As part of a multidiscipline project with Vennessa Daws, Ceramic Art Dover will be hosting Claydate 2023 with the theme 'Swimming a long way together'. The project draws on pioneering moments in history but now focused on the contemporary experience of open water swimming through the legacy of Mercedes Gleitze, a pioneer swimmer from the 20th century.
Vanessa Daws, who is both a visual artist and a long-distance swimmer living in Dublin, is the driving force behind "Swimming a Long Way Together." Her own swimming achievements have influenced her artistic practice. It was during Vanessa's preparations to swim the English Channel that she discovered the fascinating history of Mercedes Gleitze. Vanessa's art revolves around the intersection of art, swimming, and place. Her projects are inspired by swimming, personal experiences, and the interactions and conversations that come with them. Vanessa has been working with various communities and disciplines, all connected by their relationship with specific bodies of water, to create a multi-layered approach to her art.
We are thrilled to have recently hosted a series of strategic planning sessions with the renowned ceramicist, Robin Sullivan. As part of our ongoing development in the realm of ceramic art, we recognized the importance of community engagement and delivery to the community, Robin Sullivan delivered a captivating series of workshops that explored innovative approaches to project development.
Robin James Sutherland, whose expertise was instrumental in the successful execution of the impressive community project "Everything and Nothing has Changed" in Cornwall, shared his knowledge and insights. Notably, this extraordinary endeavor involved the construction of a magnificent 4.5m tall petal kiln, which beautifully unfolded like a flower to reveal a breathtaking 1000+ degree white hot ceramic sculpture within. At Ceramic Art Dover, we are committed to fostering creativity, collaboration, and community, and our partnership with Robin Sullivan and Future Foundry has undoubtedly propelled us towards achieving these goals.
Robin Sullivan
Robin Sullivan (b. 1992, London) creates works spanning artforms, from public programmes covering entire landscapes; to large scale ceramic firings; intimate sculptures, to expansive bodies of research. Robin’s unrestricted approach to art comes from their ability to trust in their process, discovering the best way to make physical a thought, feeling or story.
Their varied works bear strong historical references, inspired by their decade long research into (pre)historic England. By merging seemingly incomparable worlds into a new universe, they investigate the dynamics of landscape. Rather than presenting a factual reality, a new reality is fabricated to conjure the realms of imagination. This new reality is used to challenge the binaries of Self and Other, of past, present and future, of something being simultaneously this and that.
Working with entire communities, artists, archaeologists, botanists, geologists and engineers, their work is executed in dialogue with others. To truly explore what was created when we came together to forge the first communal art in the landscape, one can not work in isolation. Robin sees this not as a tokenistic gesture but an intrinsic part of the process.
Robin Sullivan has delivered events, commissions and projects for and with English Heritage, Arts Council England, Royal College of Art, Future Foundry, Creative Civic Change, White Gold international Ceramic Festival, Cornwall Heritage Trust, RAMM, Aspex Gallery, Russell Coates Museum and Lokaal 01.
As part of the Claydate Digital 2020 event, which took place during the lockdown period, our dedicated team embarked on a remarkable art collaboration with the public. To continue the creativity and community spirit across lockdown 2020, we prepared and distributed clay kits to participants residing in the local area. These kits served as a medium for individuals of all ages to contribute their unique designs inspired by their experiences of lockdown to the creation of extraordinary public art pieces, collectively known as the Dover Community Lockdown Pots.
These magnificent pots were made by potting legend Keith Brymer Jones, judge of The Great Pottery Throwdown and The Victorian Arts And Crafts House, as part of our Claydate 2020 event weekend! Live interviews, clay demonstrations and live firings were available for people at home while they were inspired to creatively make their additions to the Dover Community Lockdown Pots.
When restrictions allowed, ceramic art dover members then attached the community clay kit piece designs to the clay pots, infusing them with their very own individual artistic expressions - a fantastic collaboration between a top of their field international artist, local Kent potters and local residents. The culmination of this work was to then kiln fire the pieces into its final stages, which transformed the adorned pots into truly magnificent artworks. These captivating pieces, imbued with the spirit of togetherness and resilience, will be prominently displayed in future exhibitions, serving as a testament to creating collaborative pieces and how everybody can get involved with clay work.
