These delicate, lotus leaf-like organic forms emerged from humble beginnings with a block of mineral clay that I played with one afternoon at home. I modelled and pressed it into vessel shapes. As I started making,
I felt an urgency, as if on a journey, and found an uncontrollable force springing from my hands. From this intuitive creation came expressions of botanic forms. I discovered and learnt about the material, experimenting with its limitations and pushing its potential.

Then, the following summer, finding myself in Catalonia’s Empordà - a hub of ceramic making - I realised I needed to be expressing these forms in porcelain to achieve the finesse I was looking for. I searched for a maker, and under the tutelage of two master craftsmen, I learned how to prepare, handle, mould, shape and repair the slippery clay. It was a humbling experience involving many factors, forcing me to slow down and respect the material. I was engulfed by the process - it took many hours, there were false starts, failures and upsets. I needed faith in the ‘kiln gods’, and a lot of patience.

Working on these emerging shapes reminded me of the power of the lotus leaves growing strong and straight from the muddy pond. Uplifting amid troubled times. 

The forms express the movement of petals and leaves. The hammered effect, which gives beautiful texture, allowed me to go thinner than I would have otherwise dared. The pristine iridescent white glaze lends the vessels a pure, celestial, magical feel, like the moment the first snowfall transforms a winter landscape.

The serendipitous association between shapes emerging from my fingers and the lotus leaf took me back to my childhood. I remember reciting a poem from the Sung Dynasty, in which the author celebrates the lotus rising unstained from muddy waters, becoming a symbol of hope, strength and purity. This resonated profoundly.

This was a new experience for me. Unlike architecture or painting, I found myself at the mercy of my materials. The finished pieces bring me extraordinary joy and elation.