Victoria Jardine
Victoria Jardine originally trained as an architect but as her studies progressed she realised she had become obsessed with landscape and form. It was only a matter of time before she found that ceramics was where her interest would lie and, since recently moving to Longburton, has begun her own Dorset studio. Her expertise is in hand-built, predominately coiled work that does not use a potter’s wheel in its construction. ‘This is how pots were made before the wheel was introduced,’ says Victoria. ‘It means that you can build more extreme forms,’ and what excites her most is ‘the process of gradually building and exaggerating the shapes,’ she explains. Certainly her stoneware has an architectural quality that stands testament to this. ‘Both architecture and ceramics have a form of usefulness that is similar but what is lovely about making a pot is that you get to make the whole thing from start to finish,’ she explains. To create her stoneware pieces Victoria uses a scarifying process, which gives them a textured surface. A black glaze adds their monochrome effect. The focus in her work is the moment when two surfaces collide and form as a whole. It is this that gives the pots the appearance of being weightless but in fact they are very sturdy and quite capable of remaining stable enough to be used as vases. ‘I am interested in giving the feeling of illusion,’ she explains. ‘The word ‘craft’ comes from the German work ‘kraft’ meaning magical powers, so for me I am trying to make a bit of that magic.’ > www.victoriajardine.com
Venue 218 Glenwood House, Longburton, Sherborne, Dorset DT9 5PG 44 | Sherborne Times | May 2016