Pauline Parsons

After studying at the Harris School of Art in Preston for two years, Pauline went on to specialize in sculpture at Manchester Regional College of Art for a further three years, graduating with a BA(Hons) in Fine Art Sculpture. She has since worked on both private commissions and as a freelance sculptor for the ceramic industry in the UK and the US and has pieces in private collections around the world.

Although during her time at college Pauline gained experience using various materials including wood, steel, fibreglass & resin and concrete, she has always felt more affinity with clay as the medium for her work. The pieces she creates are mainly figurative, subjects being both human and animal studies. The finished sculptures are limited editions of between 10 and 20 in fired stoneware or cast in bronze.

Inspiration
"An interest in the human form, both male and female, provides a constant stimulus in my work, and the human condition is a subject which runs through many of my pieces. Isolation, human diversions, and symbolic barriers are recurring themes, sometimes explored in a quirky or playful way. An idea that has begun to feature in my sculptures is that of the observer seeing ‘the bigger picture’ suggesting a future unknown to the ‘characters’."

Method
"When creating ceramic sculptures I model the basic form which must then be hollowed out so that moisture and gases can more easily escape during the firing. This can involve cutting the piece in half and scooping out the clay to leave roughly a thickness of ½ to ¾ inch. Alternatively, my husband, sculptor Chris Williams, will cut my sculpture into several pieces making a plaster mould of each. We then press rolled out clay into the moulds. As the clay becomes firm, the separate parts are re-assembled and I then continue modelling to further develop the sculpture. This means that each sculpture in the ‘limited edition’ is unique. When finished, it is allowed to dry slowly before being fired in the kiln to 1250 degrees. I also create smaller one-off ceramic pieces, some incorporating wood, which when possible, comes from the trees in our garden.”