BA (Hons) Ceramics 2005 |
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Joanne Ayre Tel 01782 302340 |
Growing up in the Potteries, I have witnessed the continuing demise of the remains of a once prosperous industry, and the knock-on effects of unemployment, loss of identity and the changing of values and roles. However, my involvement with this industry is limited to a relatively observational perspective - I was never witness to its 'heyday'. My experience and understanding of this is through stories, recollections and memories. The people of the Potteries are fiercely proud of their manufacturing past. I stem from a tradition who can't resist peeking under a plate to check the backstamp. Everyone has a story or anecdote to tell, something that keeps the past alive. The pottery industry is loaded with opportunities for embellishment, invention and imagination. The language, i.e. job titles, processes, colloquial phrases, are potent, full of association. My interests lie not in the products the industry created but the way the industry was organised, how the objects were made and by whom, the incidentals that give the Potteries its character. Through my demonstration work at Gladstone Pottery Museum, I am part of an effort to represent the past. This has often presented me with questions regarding the way we preserve the past, the role of the museum in interpreting and representing. This body of work is my opportunity to highlight industrial processes, and also to create illusions, allusions and delusions. To create intrigue, raise questions regarding truth or falsehood, through objects that investigate the incidentals and play with their associations. As is appropriate, with the self-deprecating humour rife in the Potteries, an element of farce may be evident. |
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This body of work is a personal exploration of the present perspective of the past, drawing inspiration from my hometown of Stoke-on-Trent and my experience of working in the Gladstone Working Pottery Museum. 
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