Bert the Potter: Curriculum Vitae 

Education

·         Current: Doctoral Research Associate. Cardiff School of Art & Design
·         Master of Research in Art & Design. Cardiff School of Art & Design. 2019. Distinction.
·         BA Hons Artist, Designer: Maker. Cardiff School of Art & Design. 2018. 1st Class.
·         Foundation Diploma in Art & Design. Arts Academy. Bridgend College. 2015. Distinction.

Artist Statement

I make contemporary pottery for the home and the gallery, using traditional technologies combined with contemporary aesthetics. These pots aim to draw people into the world of the sensory; to slow them down. I hope to make work that creates the space to refocus our attention, bringing the immediate and aesthetic aspects of life to the forefront of our experience. Contemporary life is fraught with distraction, loaded with symbols and meaning. By making simple, quiet pots, I hope that I can return people to their bodies for a short while and allow them to appreciate the beauty and richness of the material and aesthetic world. Whether in the form of a simple tea mug or a sculptural jar, all my work is drawn from the functional cannon and slowly drives towards this goal single goal. Alongside this, I am always exploring the ever blurring boundaries between Art, Craft and Design as well as beauty and utility.

My pots are predominantly wheel thrown in stoneware clays and textured and coloured with simple slips. All my work is fired in a reduction atmosphere in a gas kiln, facilitating the cool, earthy tones that I value for their unique character in the context of contemporary material culture. Gestural marks and material characteristics are celebrated in my making, adding to the depth and character of my counter culture aesthetic vocabulary. Anthropology, Phenomenology and Materiality drive my practice and are used to interrogate the nature of perception and its material roots within the context of contemporary craft.

My ongoing practicebased Doctoral Research at Cardiff School of Art & Design is using pottery as a case study to investigate the areas of contemporary craft practice that emerge in fine art contexts. This research focuses on the emergent hierarchies of material culture that were established in early modernism, charting the evolution of understanding and implementation that pots saw throught the twentieth and into the twenty first century.

Current Occupations

·         Technician Demonstrator in Ceramics, Cardiff School of Art & Design. 2020 to present day.
·         Doctoral Research Associate, Metatech Research Group, Cardiff School of Art & Design. 2019 to present day
·         Potter: Batch production handmade tableware and one-off art pots for gallery settings. 2019 to present day

Professional Activities

·         Commission and exhibition focused pottery production under Bert the Potter.
· Small batch wholesale pottery production with independent businesses and ethical retailers
·         Technician Demonstrator in Ceramics, Cardiff School of Art & Design
· Academic resource creation for art & design education

Academic Research

·         Returning to Pots Themselves: a phenomenological investigation into craft pots in fine art contexts. Ongoing doctoral research. Cardiff School of Art & Design.
·         The Buddhist Foundations of Pottery: Developing a Contemporary Critical Theory. 2019. Master of Research Thesis, Distinction. Cardiff School of Art & Design.
·         On Throwing a Pot: A Post-Anthropocentric Account. 2018. Undergraduate Dissertation, 1st Class. Cardiff School of Art & Design.
·         The Gesture of Things: A Language of Making: A Phenomenological and Linguistic Account of Material Agency. 2017. Cardiff School of Art & Design.
·         Why Makers Need More Than Words: A Phenomenological Investigation into the Linguistic Mediation of Perception. 2016. Cardiff School of Art & Design.

Skills

·         Ceramic Fabrication: Wheel thrown and hand built vessels
·         Ceramic Glaze Technology: Reduction Fired Stoneware
· Wheel throwing demonstration and teaching, including secondary processes: trimming, slipping, decoration and handling.
· Art & Design academic resource creation (pedagogical theory & resource design)
·         Art & Design Research: Material Engagement Theory, Craft history and Theory, Embodiment of Mind, Anglo-Oriental Pottery, New-Materialism, Making.

Exhibitions

  • 2024 - Craft Festival Wales

  • 2024 - Potfest Southwest: Shaftesbury

  • 2023 - Practice & Research: A Cardiff School of Art & Design PhD Showcase

  • 2023 - Cambridge Contemporary Art

  • 2023 - Ruthin Craft Centre: On Your Table

  • 2022 - Potfest Glynde Place

  • 2021 - Windsor Art in Clay

  • 2021 - Hatfield Art in Clay

  • 2019 - Hatfield Art in Clay.

  • 2018 - Hatfield Art in Clay.

  • 2018 - Cardiff School of Art & Design Undergraduate Artist, Designer: Maker Degree Show.

  • 2017 - Bridge Pottery Summer Exhibition.

  • 2017 - Bert the Potter Private Summer Exhibition and Sale.

  • 2017 - Cardiff School of Art & Design 2nd Year Artist, Designer: Maker Show.

  • 2016 - Bert the Potter Private Christmas Exhibition and Sale.