Matthew Chambers, Ceramics

m at t h e w c h a m b e r s ceramics

m at t h e w c h a m b e r s 1 2 th s e p t e m b e r

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1 6 th o c t o b e r

Matthew Chambers is a graduate of the Bath School of Art & Design, and an MA graduate of the Royal College of Art. In 2006 he was awarded the Ceramic Review Prize at Ceramic Art London, and since that time his extraordinary sculptures have held their place as the most unique and technically complex in contemporary ceramics. Each work is constructed from individually thrown circular sections of pre-coloured clay, which are brought together to form swirling, concentric designs of astonishing precision. The artist’s passion for constructivist art is evident in the structure and geometry of each piece, and their intricacy is enhanced by a subtly changing palette of stains and oxides.

“Clay is such a versatile material. It is possible to make almost any form with it and that has always been the draw. There are so many different processes in clay that one might take to get a required outcome, and each takes years to get right. It always felt right to focus on just one and run with it, so that the versatility of the material might enable something brand new to come out of a process that has been around for centuries.

My studio is one amongst a group of seven in the same complex, housed on the southern tip of the Isle of Wight, known as the Undercliff. We are set close to the sea, and it is remote and quiet, which is good for me as I work best when uninterrupted. Given the ordered nature of my work people often think my studio will be a very neat and minimalist space, but it isn’t: there is a lot of clutter lying about, maybe because I spend so much time, maybe too much time, focusing on the work itself and I can let everything else slip a little bit.

When I begin working, I have some initial thoughts, then I go with the flow. The only preconditions are the colours and a slight notion of where the pattern will go. Then it is down to the making. Sometimes, at the end, a work will look like it did in my imagination, but more often than not it won’t. One certainty, though, is that I never finish working until I am satisfied with a form, and if I am not I will scrap it and begin again.

Many, many things inspire my work: patterns that exist in things everywhere, whether in nature or something manmade. I am taken with anything that contains geometry, rhythm and flow, and of course beauty. This exhibition includes a group of my new Eclipse forms. They are polished smooth, with a greater external space and more simplified yet angled internal layers. These works might be my closest homage yet to Barbara Hepworth, my all-time greatest inspiration. They were made for this exhibition in St Ives with her fully in mind.”

Matthew Chambers, 2020

List of works

1-4

5-8

9-12

13-16

17-20

21-23

1. Eclipse Point, £4500, 50cm 2. Grey Fade and Cream Twist, £4500, 50cm 3. Mixed Red Twist, £3000, 32cm 4. Grey Blue and Green Spiral, £3000, 28cm 5. Grey and Red Fade Layered Twist, £4500, 37cm 6. Ochre and Cream Layered Twist, £2400, 27cm 7. Cream and Blue Layered Twist, £3000, 32cm 8. Grey and Cream Layered Twist, £2800, 31cm 9. Blue Fade Symmetry, £4500, 38cm 10. Eclipse, £2400, 30cm 11. Grey and Blue Fade Twist, £4000, 32cm 12. Blue Fade Deep Twist, £2000, 23cm 13. Charcoal Deep Twist, £2000, 22cm 14. Sand and Cream Eclipse, £1800, 24cm 15. Stone and Charcoal Twist, £1200, 18cm 16. Earth Red Twist, £1200, 18cm 17. Black Grogged, £1200, 19cm 18. Stone Blue, £1200, 19cm 19. Layered Eclipse II, £2100, 28cm 20. Layered Eclipse III, £700, 15cm 21. Blue Spiral, £1200, 22cm 22. Green Mixedup Spiral, £1200, 22cm 23. Greyfade Layered Twist, £2400, 27cm

See online for the complete collection of works Photographer credit - Simon Avery

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