Kith and Kin Symposium at the National Glass Centre

Okay, so this is a very old one- predating my little blog- that I have decided to go back to as I think it is pretty interesting.

In February last year (10/02/12) I travelled back down to the North of England from Edinburgh to visit the National Glass Centre in Sunderland for a symposium. It was my first one and also the first time I had attended a specific event at a gallery outside of it's day to day goings on. The symposium was to accompany the Kith and Kin exhibit that was on at the time- showing contemporary perspectives on how glass and ceramics are being used to express creative ideas. More specifically in the North East of England where these practises are very traditional and have very strong roots. The current and former heads of glass and ceramics at the University of Sunderland curated it- Prof. Peter Davies and Prof. Kevin Petrie. As well as seeing the symposium itself it was also great to get there so I could see some of my old ceramics buddies from college who went on to study there when I came up to Edinburgh.

The artists at the symposium where: Christopher McHugh, Paul Coldwell, Erin Dickson, Jeffrey Sarmiento, Andrew Livingstone, James Maskrey, Charlotte Hodes, and Colin Rennie. 

It was really great to be able to actually hear more about the pieces we had seen that morning in the exhibition, especially as they all worked in such different ways. 

Some exploration fun from James Maskrey. 

One of the artists who has stuck with me all this time is James Maskrey. The work he was showing in Kith and Kin was a series of jars and containers each holding various curios inspired by the journals of Charles Darwin and Walter Scott. An account was mentioned specifically, 'The Worst Journey in the World' written by Apsley Cherry-Garrard, one of the three survivors of Scott's fateful 1911 expedition to Cape Crozier. Maskrey further described his work using three words: "endurance, endeavour, expedition"- this is a wonderfully unique way to sum up work and is very inspirational. The vessels stir up a huge amount of curiosity in me, I couldn't stop looking at them wondering about the strange things inside- anyone for some pickled saltwater crocodile eggs?! I also love the colours used in the glass- sort of medicine bottle browns- they make me think of botanical expeditions and mysterious discoveries. Science and zoology are themes I enjoy and have touched on in my own work as I feel the research concepts can be readily translated into interesting 3D outcomes. 

After going back through my notes from the symposium I am feeling quite inspired and I have a few ideas floating around which is always comforting- with hope I will soon be blogging about them!