Amanda-Sue Rope

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Previously shown in

Organic form 2018

Winter 2018/19

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Earth materials 2023

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Amanda-Sue creates wheel-thrown and hand-built ceramic pieces using both porcelain and stoneware clay bodies.  These ceramic forms are then hand-painted using slips, underglazes, onglazes, transfers and lustres.

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The built environment and its relationship with nature - sometimes easy, sometimes discordant - are the starting points for Amanda Sue's work.  Through a combination of drawing and photography she records observations of her surroundings from which she distils and abstracts,

seeking out structural harmonies and rhythms.  These visual distillations are painted onto the ceramic, punctuating its form, pacing around the exterior and often spreading into the interior.

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All the vessels created for this collection have been thrown on the potter's wheel using a red stoneware clay body. The exterior surface has either been left unglazed or layered with oxide washes. The washes result in a matt irregular surface with a sense of movement which contrasts with the poised and precise nature of the vessel’s form. Surface colours are chosen in response to those found in Amanda-Sue's urban environment: the red and yellow of bricks, the bronze black of rusting metal railings, the white of whether worn stucco facades. To contrast with the matt surface, she applies a transparent shiny glaze to the inside of the vessel demarcating the transition from exterior to interior. The works can be experienced either standing alone or arranged in groups echoing sculptural still-life and cityscapes. Works are fired to 1220°C and are fully functional to hold water, and in the case of the lidded vessels, food safe. To clean, a wipe down with a damp cloth or even a quick rinse under the tap is recommended.

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Amanda-Sue studied Fine Art at Newcastle University, MA Communication Design at Central Saint Martins and has worked as a graphic designer, illustrator and lecturer.  Her explorations with ceramics started in 2012 and became the main focus of her practice in 2015.