Waterfalls and harvests
A series of banners and wall-hangings, constructed with elements of clay, driftwood and other found materials, inspired by writing about the natural world. The words often draw together different elements to make a coherent whole, like pages in a book, or bricks in a wall, or tesserae in a mosaic. I like to push the clay to its limits while retaining its functional qualities, exploring a material expression of the words, making poetry physical.
Liz Mathews at Potters' Yard
London, England
The thing itself, Liz MathewsA banner made from strips torn from a single slab of stoneware clay, Thames driftwood, embroidery silks and string. The text is from Virginia Woolf's 'The Waves'.
Waterfall, Liz MathewsWall hanging made from eight stoneware panels suspended from copper pipes and cup-hooks, with words from Valentine Ackland's poem 'Everywhere is the pattern of water', set to flow down the panels like leaves floating downstream. This photo shows Waterfall on exhibition at the National Poetry Library in London's Southbank Centre.
Delight banner, Liz MathewsOff-cut scraps of stoneware hung from copper pipe with silk cord, backed with painted scraps from artist's book covers. Words from a poem by Sylvia Townsend Warner.
River-tree banner, Liz MathewsFragments of stoneware and river driftwood and pierced stone beads are bound together with green silk threads; the words are from a poem by Jeremy Hooker: 'Lines and nets of grass / hang tangled in branches, / and the river is itself a tree / growing along the ground / bark-ridged, / feeding with millions of leaves'
Harvest banner, Liz MathewsOff-cut strips of waste clay from another work (Stele, an improvised grave marker), suspended from a river-carved driftwood beam with sash-cord. The words are from a poem by Edith Sitwell, and this photo was taken while the banner was on exhibition in the National Poetry Library.
Peace and Love banners, Liz MathewsTwo banners inspired by simple profound lyrics: the first setting a traditional Celtic blessing, the second: 'All you need is love'. Made with strips of clay, lettered, glazed and high-fired, then finished with a 9ct gold lustre in a third firing, strung together with silk threads and suspended from a copper pipe. The banners chime musically when moved gently, like windchimes.