Making Waves

A show of contemporary ceramics and textiles

Fiona Hutchison, textiles

16 January - 1 March 2004

This exhibition features two artists whose main inspiration is water.

Nicholas Arroyave-Portela, in his early thirties, is one of the most interesting ceramicists living in Britain today. Last year he was the subject of a major exhibition touring British museums and art galleries. His work appears in five major international collections of applied arts.

Fiona Hutchison, has lived by the sea since her early childhood. Sailing is her passion. Fiona has created many woven tapestries including large commissions in hospitals, public buildings as well as for private clients.

"Water is seas, rivers, 70% of a human body, rain. It distorts and refracts the perception of objects when immersed in it, it bends light, is prone to extreme mood swings both gentle and violent. These contradictions in the nature of water are what excite and infuse every aspect of my work from the conception to the making and if anything I try to recreate a tension and a dramatic visual experience", says Nicholas Arroyave-Portela. Lao Tzu, an  ancient Chinese Philosopher said, " it is written the water that flows into the earthenware vessel takes on its form."

Nicholas Arroyave-Portela started experimenting with polythene, a material
easily transformed in shape and form through the insertion of water inside its walls. This analysis led into a fascination with saturation, volume and fullness expressed in his ceramics. He also associates water with a sensuality and lightness of textiles like silk and velvet. Throwing lines in the vessels he creates became important to convey a softness and sumptuousness not always conveyed easily through ceramics. The throwing shapes are often distorted to excentuate folds and shadows, which had been filled, for example, with paper to act as a ballast when the form was caved in.

"Throwing for me has become the best way to express qualities of a spiritual and almost ethereal nature. It never ceases to amaze me that what starts off as a lump of clay and a bucket of water becomes something that by stretching out through my fingers develops lines postures and characteristics not altogether in my control. As the clay becomes thinner its form becomes more translucent like a sheet of silk redefined by that which it hides and envelops be it the human body or the air itself. At it's most vulnerable every touch becomes evident no matter how subtle and the pot often gives the impression of being caught in a frozen state or movement in time preserved in aspic for all to see."

Fiona Hutchison's textiles are a perfect partner for Arroyave-Portela's work. Her inspiration comes from the sea and her love of sailing. "Water for some has great beauty, for others it is a destructive and frightening force. It is these two contrary views of the sea and our relationship with it that I find so fascinating. In the past my work has been about my relationship with the sea and the experiences of my journeying across it." At present her work is involved with the surface of the sea, the quality of light on water and the relationship it has to the sky and land. Then in to this picture she introduces people, buildings, harbours, piers and oilrigs. There is great beauty in both, but a beauty that is as starkly contrasted as our relationship with the sea.

"I express my ideas through Drawing, Painting and Gobelin Tapestry. Until
now my tapestries have been traditional in materials and technique. However, a recent research trip to Japan introduced me to the use of paper and paper yarns, indigo dying and other traditional Japanese textile techniques."

In her most recent works she is experimenting and exploring the 3D qualities that can be achieved with tapestry weave and striving to create a light and delicate textile art that has the strength and presence of a traditional tapestry. In order to achieve this she has been exploring the interaction between light and colour in sculptural tapestry.
The exhibition will feature Fiona's drawings and paintings which are the first
step in the process of tapestry making.