michelducossculptorAll the work carried on at the Pottery is now sculpture, mainly in ceramic and paperclay but also, occasionally, in plaster, polystyrene, and found object or repurposed components.
All my pieces are freestyle in my own designs and nowadays I rarely accept commissions. I work in short series of 3 or 6 related shapes and aim to fit in with themes for Galleries and Open Exhibitions as well as reacting to current affairs, international events and climatic concerns. From carving lumps of plaster scavenged from bombed out houses as a child in French North Africa to sculpting forms in clay today, 3-dimensional creation has always been part of my life. Like many people of my generation, I wasn’t allowed an Art education as no proper job could come from it so I studied Law and Politics with the aim to become the next President of the French Republic. This didn’t happen and I found myself working as a professional potter in England from 1972 onwards with my wife Heather as Alford Pottery. Over the last 20 years or so, ceramic sculpting and conceptual form making have increasingly become my creative language. A progressive exploration in materials and found objects has widened my creativity and focussed my political and ethical commentary on modern life. All my work is entirely made by hand, starting with clay or with paperclay which I make from recycled clay and old newspapers, often built in sections for pieces over 1 metre high, carved and decorated and painted by hand. The only equipment used are kilns and a glaze spraying gun. Coming from a background of crafts where we have always tried to please people, I use my skill and experience to try and realise people’s ideas and I have made some unusual and improbable sculptures like a guitar, a fire extinguisher, a melodeon and several ecclesiastical memorials! I have been lucky to have many clients and collectors who have given me the justification to pursue my interest. My non- commissioned work is total freedom when I make what I fancy but I often work to a theme or in series. In ceramic or other materials often re purposed and recycled, it has been wide ranging from trompe l’oeil to political statements to more romantic meanderings like Italo Calvino’s book Invisible Cities or large garden lights and decorative shapes. Current work includes commentaries on global heating and the Ukraine crisis. All have pleased, most have sold, some have resulted in further commissions and all have fed my creative obsession. |
See Some Examples
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