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Harlequin Gallery |
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An exhibition of New Anagama Pottery 25th February to 18th March 2007 |
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“Collins is one of the world’s leading
exponents….” The Times newspaper 20.02.07 where the exhibition
was featured. |
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Examples of pots in the exhibition. I am
sorry that there are not as many images as I would have liked but they arrived
late and by the time that I was able to photograph them the light was not at
its best. |
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Click here for an image of
the largest item in the exhibition. Nic Collins has become a mainstay of
the Harlequin Gallery’s exhibition programme since his first visit back in
1996. It is worth saluting former Harlequin Gallery director, Trevor Coldrey,
for supporting Nic as well as fellow Anagama firers Svend Bayer and Patrick Sargent
by exhibiting their work when other more established galleries were
reluctant. In fact I do feel that this reluctance still exists in some
quarters but that is understandable given that in the field of pottery,
described by the art critic, Herbert Read as “plastic art in its most
abstract form”, Anagama wood firing produces pottery at its most abstract, at
its cutting edge. Thankfully, those of you who have read this far are more
enlightened. Throughout his career Nic has
wrestled with the question why fire with wood? It is perhaps brought home to
him when hearing negative remarks from people who don’t even take the time to
stop and look. However Nic does admits to enjoying the fact that his life
“has been on the edge of normal,” and there are of course occasions when
someone new “ sees beyond the brown pot façade and enters the realm of the
multitude of subtle colours, textures and alluring flame marks and battle won
scars. “ He goes on to remark that “every pot from a
long firing proudly records the story of the fire. With experience these give
tantalising snippets of a distant memory of that pot positioned in the kiln
with the white heat after four days of firing. I begin to understand its
story, the direct flame hitting the front of the pot and then dancing and
rebounding from the pot behind. The molten ash beginning to move vertically
down the side of the pot, the feldspar granules, kneaded into the clay,
beginning to melt and round off in the extreme heat. All of this information
is stored and can be retrieved to read the pot but also the rawness,
nakedness; the bones are still there for all to look at. For me each firing
is an adventure, a serious grappling with the unknown.” Of course even before firing Nic doesn’t
usually like to take the easy option as most of the clays he uses are freshly
mixed and rather crude, which do not respond well on the wheel, taking on
their own rebellious forms and forcing Nic to work with them. As Nic states,
“these are the pots that I enjoy most, almost on the verge of collapse, maybe
adding more clay to a large split in the pot wall.” Since his last Harlequin visit two years
ago, Nic has continued to show his work, run kiln building and firing courses
and give demonstrations around the UK. In addition he was invited and took
part in the Mashiko International Ceramic Festival last May where local
Japanese potters, including Matsuzaki Ken, were
joined by wood firers from Australia, the States, South Korea, Germany,
France and Nic as our representative. Nic and I hope to see you at the Private
View on Sunday 25th February when I am sure there will be numerous pots to
delight and tantalize. |
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