Ceramics & Glass (MA)
Elly Glossop
Born in Edinburgh, and raised in Australia, Elly Glossop moved to Denmark where she studied a BA in Ceramics at the Royal Danish Design School on Bornholm in 2014. She graduated receiving the prestigious National Banks Jubilee Fund (travel grant) for her development during this period of study. In 2018 she began her MA studies at The Royal College of Art, receiving the Charlotte Fraser Prize in the first term for her V&A project Accretions. She was invited by the college to present this body of work to Prince Charles on his first ever visit to the Royal College. Following this she received several commissions, with her work being held in prominent private collections. In 2019 Elly was recipient of the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust which allowed her to expand her skills in plaster mould making and pewter casting. Most recently she has been awarded the RJ Washington Prize for her graduation portfolio of practice.
Elly works to commission as well as for exhibition and installation. She is open to conversations with galleries and is interested in residencies globally. Her practise is currently studio based, where she continues to research and develop her work as well as seeking external opportunites.
My practice is deeply rooted in ceramic experimentation, exploring through materiality the way we absorb and re-interpret nature, in particular elements relating to landscape. It is through clay, memory and imagination that I simulate and recreate landscapes once visited. Using the fluidity of porcelain slip in a range of states, I am able to explore the relationships between surface and substance- what is real and what is imagined, in a series of dream-like scapes of textures and compositions.Â
Replicating and mimicking natural forms, I work intuitively and in an unorthodox manner, seeking to innovate traditional ceramic techniques. Boundaries are created with plaster moulds from which I can subvert the expectations of the process and create new methods of working.Â
In my most recent investigation, blocks of strata are constructed in layers from both natural and man made materials, dipped in clay; which are burnt away; alluding to the transient nature of our existence. Cross sections reveal all contained in these layers as copper growths emerge from the surface through layers of heavy oxides in the process of electroforming.
Accretions Series
Accretions Series, Image by Luke Fuller
Accretions Series, Image by Luke Fuller
My initial project Accretions at RCA was the culmination of a material investigation, where I was seeking to innovate and experiment with the traditional process of slip casting. Inspired by a Belleek Dessert Comport Stand from 1868 housed in the V&A ceramic collection, I chose to work with the oyster form for symbolic reasons relating to gender. My process was entirely material led, and with the motion of swirling slip, I built up layers creating residual lines that mimic accretions found throughout nature. This interpretation considers gender fluidity as a contemporary phenomenon and employs a darker pallet to create a less romantic and more provocative aesthetic.
Medium:
Parian, porcelain, pigment.Size:
Approx 30cm x 24cm
Dark Matter Series
Dark Matter Series
Dark Matter Series
Dark Matter Series
Dark Matter Series
Ultimately I’m fascinated by the serendipitous nature of working with clay. The fluidity and transformational qualities mean I can work with clay in a range of states, pushing the material in new directions. Continually experimenting and developing my own visual language, new bodies of work often reference the previous body of work.
‘Dark Matter’ was driven by the curiosity to create a more dense form over which flowing slip could envelope the surface. Combining contrasting qualities of materials together in the hopes they could not only support and give each other structure, but create new and interesting tactile surface qualities. As the liquid clay spills over the surface and filters through the coarse clay body, it seeps in to fill the voids as it comes into contact with the mould; its movements traced and captured.
During my time at RCA, I’ve integrated metal work into my practice. This has opened up a unique path; combining material qualities and replacing the traditional use of glaze with copper plating. Metal has historically been used for the repair of ceramic objects, which has since led me to develop symbolic references in my work around copper being a healer and protector of the clay body.
Referencing Joseph Beuys perceptions of properties imbued in various materials: ‘Metals used by Beuys included iron, whose cold strength and durability he associated with masculinity, war and Mars. He placed it in opposition to copper, a conductor of electricity and one of the softest metals, which he associated with Venus and femininity. Gold carried associations of magic, alchemy and transformation’ Tate Modern.
.
.
.
* This body of work is incomplete due to Covid-19
‘Dark Matter’ was driven by the curiosity to create a more dense form over which flowing slip could envelope the surface. Combining contrasting qualities of materials together in the hopes they could not only support and give each other structure, but create new and interesting tactile surface qualities. As the liquid clay spills over the surface and filters through the coarse clay body, it seeps in to fill the voids as it comes into contact with the mould; its movements traced and captured.
During my time at RCA, I’ve integrated metal work into my practice. This has opened up a unique path; combining material qualities and replacing the traditional use of glaze with copper plating. Metal has historically been used for the repair of ceramic objects, which has since led me to develop symbolic references in my work around copper being a healer and protector of the clay body.
Referencing Joseph Beuys perceptions of properties imbued in various materials: ‘Metals used by Beuys included iron, whose cold strength and durability he associated with masculinity, war and Mars. He placed it in opposition to copper, a conductor of electricity and one of the softest metals, which he associated with Venus and femininity. Gold carried associations of magic, alchemy and transformation’ Tate Modern.
.
.
.
* This body of work is incomplete due to Covid-19
Medium:
Porcelain, copper
Strata Series
Strata Series
Strata Series
Strata Series
Strata Series
This speculative series of work is an exploration of an imagined anthropocene. Technically challenging the versatility of clay, these solid works attempt to expand the form language of ceramics. Blocks are made by layering various raw materials and ceramic waste, as well as textiles and paper which reference the structure of skin. Connecting conceptually to my dissertation ‘Clay Body’, this series of work explores the transformational qualities of clay as a metaphor for the impermanence of life.
.
.
.
‘Man is called by the ancients a world in miniature and certainly this name is well applied, for just as man is composed of earth, water, air and fire, so is the body of the earth. If man has in him bones which are the support and armour of the flesh, the world has rocks which are the support of the earth; if man has in himself the sea of blood, in which the lungs rise and fall in breathing, so the body of the earth has its oceanic sea which also rises and falls every six hours for the world to breathe. If from the said sea of blood spring veins which go on ramifying throughout the human body, similarly the oceanic sea fills the body of the earth with infinite veins of water.’ Leonardo da Vinci
.
.
.
* This series is a work in progress. These images are only of initial clay tests.
.
.
.
‘Man is called by the ancients a world in miniature and certainly this name is well applied, for just as man is composed of earth, water, air and fire, so is the body of the earth. If man has in him bones which are the support and armour of the flesh, the world has rocks which are the support of the earth; if man has in himself the sea of blood, in which the lungs rise and fall in breathing, so the body of the earth has its oceanic sea which also rises and falls every six hours for the world to breathe. If from the said sea of blood spring veins which go on ramifying throughout the human body, similarly the oceanic sea fills the body of the earth with infinite veins of water.’ Leonardo da Vinci
.
.
.
* This series is a work in progress. These images are only of initial clay tests.
Medium:
Porcelain, pigment, various raw materials.Size:
13cm x 9cmQEST
RJ Washington Prize
Charlotte Fraser Prize
23 July 2020
12:30 (GMT + 0)
Zoom
From a Distance: The importance of a cultural experience and exchange of art education
Discussion on cultural awareness, individual practices and future plans.