Profile
and Inspiration
Jo
Connell has worked with clay for many years and is best known for her use of
coloured clays to create unusual effects. She works with slabs of clay made
from marbled, laminated and sometimes distressed layers of colour, firing
her forms to stoneware
temperature without a glaze.
Jo
draws her ideas from the natural world, and elements of landscape, seascape,
rock strata and plant structure can be clearly recognized in her work. She
seeks to echo and interpret some of the qualities observed in nature using a
personal language of expression acquired from many years’ experience of
working with clay.
The
method of decoration used here is unusual. The clay itself is coloured and
then manipulated by twisting, rolling and cutting so that surface pattern is
integral with the form itself. She often works experimentally and seeks to
explore some of the fascinating qualities of clay, the material itself being
a major source of inspiration. Subtle colour and texture combine to produce
surfaces of an intriguingly tactile nature, sometimes stretched and
stressed, almost in the same way as geological forces affect the earth’s
crust. Jo makes a range of ceramics
includes vessels, sculptural forms and lighting for interior and garden
settings. Wall panels and hangings often combine mixed media such as
driftwood, glass and metal.