Bodywork; figurative ceramics with a Cardiff connection

Although my curating experience extends beyond ceramics, I have specialised in ceramics exhibitions. 'Bodywork' featured a selection of contemporary figurative works with a Cardiff connection. It was a collaboration between myself and Moira Vincentelli, the curator of the ceramics collection and archive at UWA. Shown first in the UWA gallery (June - September 2005), the exhibition toured to the Shipley gallery, Gateshead (March - June 2006). It was well received; a reviewer commented that 'as well as seeing the body in many guises, we also 'see' the mind' (Kevin Petrie in Ceramic Review 220 July/August 2006). The illustrated catalogue includes my essay interpreting the works on display (pp.4-27) and an essay by Moira Vincentelli on the historical context.
I manage the BSAD school gallery and have expanded its function as a venue for in-house exhibitions to include installations by resident artists, whose activities are filmed and archived to form a significant primary research resource. The first resident was conceptual ceramist David Cushway. The second residency in October 2007 will feature a fine artist, Suzana Tamamovic, an ex-asylum seeker, whose installation will reference censorship and book burning in the former Yugoslavia. This pedagogical research project has included the installation of web cams, so that events in the gallery can now be viewed remotely. I intend to further investigate and exploit the implications of this development. Future plans also include exploring the notion of a 'neo-modernist' faction in contemporary ceramics in order to generate a touring exhibition. In September 2007 I made a small start with a show of work by Nicholas Lees, Maria Wojdat, Suzanne King, Cath Bloomfield and Fraser Talbot. It accompanied 'Idea and Act,' a symposium organised by the BSAD ceramics research group and held at BSAD on 7th September 2007.