Tag Archives: York College

Some of the best ceramic works I came across lately. With 10 years of experience as ceramics technician at York College and having discovered her love of bone china and porcelain, Beccy Ridsdel is exploring new possibilities in mixed media ceramics.

I asked Beccy for her thoughts behind her work:

My art/craft work is a wry look at the way ceramics is perceived in the art world. Most people see working with mud as craft through and through, and this work is a dissection of the craft object in the form of domestic ware. The dissector is trying to find something else beneath the surface but every time they cut chintz, crochet and needlework spills out. This work was part of an installation, with a pile of uncut ceramics to the left of a large table, dissection in progress in the centre (complete with microscope, forceps, surgical needles and a kidney bowl). To the right was a pile of cut, tortured ceramics, all displaying their crafty interior.

Much of my work is decorative, made in response to my chosen themes. My desire work, the porcelain with knitten wool, is based on the theme of looking closely at the forgotten or ignored to find something magical. Barnacles are largely insignificant but when you look closely at them, you see that their lives revolve around desire – desire for food, procreation and light.