Daria Coleridge
MA RCA C&G
Ceramic Sculpture/Glass
the essence of movement....New Works in 2023
My Ceramic Sculptures are created to capture the essence of movement and in so doing spin out essential human emotions, thoughts and perceptions which tantalise the viewer with a joyous sense of subliminal understanding, recollecting and connecting the past and the existential present. They work alone or in groups and indulge in kinetic dialogues and interactions that bring the viewer in to participation in the conversation.
My artistic expression is now more professional, meaning that I am able to express more successfully the synthesis of abstraction whilst trying to capture and concentrate on conveying a sensual and lively tension in my pieces. Defying gravity and pushing boundaries is part of my development and improving the handmade technique both in handling different types of clay and the myriad types of glazes allowing me to break through to forge new expressive ceramic sculptures. The sea, the alps and land formations across Great Britain and parts of Europe have been a subconscious influence and are now paramount to the vision of Capturing Movement.
Inspired by the Futurists and Umberto Boccione's abstracted sculpture, 'Unique Forms of Continuity in Space' in particular, I focused early on in my artistic training on manipulating hard and often unmalleable materials such as aluminium and eventually clay into shapes of dancers and moving figures. The essence of creating dynamic shapes and forms has inspired me since studying Bernini's maquette, so fluid and purposeful and the monumental twisting of works by Giambolognia. From these early works more recently expressions in sculpture have struck me, such as Barbara Hepworth's synthesised shapes and forms representing forces of fluidity and tension. I have been influenced by works of Magdalena Odundo and Ashraf Hanna, contemporary artists that embody abstraction whilst producing seemingly eternal concepts of shape & design. In my work I have incorporated elements, from past and present art to try to evoke the human psyche.
My early work on bronze commissions of heads of children and dogs concentrated on interweaving more than one head , hand or dog into a symphony of movement and laughter. Long hair sweeps from one side of the sculpture to the other as the young girl's head quickly turns sideways to look at her twin. Three brothers look at each other turning this way and that: a brother whispers into the ear of his little sister whilst you register the expression on her face, as she listens.
Wanting to develop this expression of movement into a more personal abstraction, I delved into a period of creating spinning globes, trembling ruffles and undulating seaweed shapes in ceramics, which persuaded me to deepen my creative focus and perfect my technique by applying to do a two year MA in Ceramics and Glass at the Royal College of Art 2019-2021.
The past continues to inspire the present and my creativity. I have been very lucky to have shown with various galleries in 2023 and each atmosphere stimulates a new response and my new works have been very well received!
Please contact me on DariaColeridge1@gmail.com Coleridgedaria - instagram
for more information on Private Commissions and Sales July 2023