International Ceramics Studio
Artists in Residence

CLARE TWOMEY, UK
May - July, 2005

STATEMENT

Clare Twomey's interest in clay is as a material that offers the potential to be moulded and transformed. The public first saw this interest in 1999 as she presented Shoal, a hanging installation at the Ceramic Contemporaries 3 exhibition at the Royal College of Art. It won the exhibition prize and went on to be exhibited in Italy at 51st Concorso Internazionale della Ceramica d'Arte Contemporanea , Faenza, Italy. This work is now held as part of the permanent collection in Italy.

Further international exhibitions included:

1999 Westerwald Ceramics International Exhibition Competition, Germany.
2000 Manises Biennial De Ceramica, Spain.
2001 Kaphenberg Biennial, Austria, Denmark ,
2001 Ist World Ceramic Biennial, Korea. Awarded certificate of merit. 2001 Porcelain Triennial, Nyon, Switzerland. Awarded City of Nyon Exhibition prize.

During this period of two years Clare developed works which expanded her knowledge of larger scale installations and production, the most infamous being Consciousness/conscience, which required the production of 3000 units of porcelain to create a temporary floor at the Ceramic Biennial in Korea. The floor was crushed by the participation of the audience during the exhibition period.

Interest grew from this initial approach to exhibiting work; this included invitation to exhibit a piece of work made up of three porcelain decorative handguns in the Museum of Modern Art , Kyoto, Japan. This work then went on to be exhibited in 2002, Gun Show, Soil Gallery, Seattle, USA and in 2002 Guns and Roses, Transit, London. Clare's success in exhibiting internationally began to generate interest and opportunities for the presentation of her work within the UK.

A major Exhibition at the Crafts Council in 2003, Approaching Content curated by Jonathan Parsons, saw Clare Twomeys work take a prominent roll contributing to contemporary discussions on clay. The work exhibited was Consciousness/conscience and it went on to tour at the Harris Museum. In May this year the same work was exhibited at the TATE Liverpool's exhibition A Secret History of Clay - from Gauguin to Gormley.

She has developed affiliations with industry, The sponsorship from Royal Crown Derby that has seen 16000 bone china tiles produced for the works at the Crafts Council and the Tate. Also the collaboration with Emery's minerals that saw three tons of pure unfired porcelain powder placed on a National Trust site in 2003 as part of a time based installation in Gateshead.

The themes of Clare's work are influenced by observations of human interaction and political behaviour. The bodies of work can have varying themes. Clare continues to develop work, which pursues her interest in space, architectural interventions and the gallery as destination