NICHOLAS LEES
Homes & Antiques|December 2024
The ceramic artist talks to Dominique Corlett about new ways of working with clay and blurring the edges of solid objects
Nicholas Lees
NICHOLAS LEES

Among the accolades picked up by artist Nicholas Lees over his 32-year career in ceramics is an impressive list of museums that have acquired his work. From Chichester and Chippenham, to the Fitzwilliam in Cambridge and York Art Gallery, to leading ceramics museums in Germany and Italy and as far afield as Auckland, New Zealand, Nicholas’s work can be found in public collections around the world.

But it wasn’t until his solo show at Petersfield Museum and Art Gallery in November last year, which showcased some of his new work, that the hoped for knock on the door came from the Victoria & Albert Museum. ‘The V&A is the big one for a UK ceramics artist,’ Nicholas says. ‘So that was kind of a lifetime goal achieved.’

The piece bought by the V&A was Red/Blue Orbit, 2023, a 16.5cm-high spherical vessel made in Parian porcelain and coloured with soluble cobalt and gold. The piece is typical of the lathe-turned work that Nicholas is now producing, having spent the last 12 years on its development. With its spherical form, framed with a foot and a mouth, the piece has the familiarity of round pots made by human hands across cultures and millennia. But what’s different is what is going on in the space between those framing bookends, as instead of the expected solid clay form, the body of this pot appears to be alive with shimmering energy.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة December 2024 من Homes & Antiques.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة December 2024 من Homes & Antiques.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

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