Details
Wheel-thrown stoneware with glaze
Stamped with maker's mark
H. 6.5 x dia. 48.5 cm
About Roelof Uys
"I don’t work to a plan or from a sketch. All I have is a vague idea about what kind of work I want to make during a cycle; a body of work made up of many forms with different functions, somehow related to each other and reflecting a moment in time. It is difficult to describe my artistic process or vision, even to myself. It is like a memory of a strange dream or unexplored territory. I begin to visualise form, line, texture and colour. I create these imaginary pots in my head but they remain abstract and illusive until I sit down at the wheel and begin the process."
"I weigh up the clay and start throwing. I never only make one, even if it’s a large piece. I usually start with small cups or bowls. I like to experiment freely with form and I will make a few similar shapes and then move on to a different shape. Often, I will see something interesting in one shape and will then use that as a starting point for another. While throwing, I think about how to finish these pots, what decorative technique to use, what glaze and how to make the material, form and process work in harmony. Sometimes it’s seamless; there’s a natural flow and everything comes together. Other times it feels like a struggle and reality collides with fantasy. My craftsman’s skills and knowledge are tested to their limits, doubt and despair creep in and my “good ideas” dissolve. Although it is always easy to fall back on old forms and motifs when I run into difficulties I always try to deviate from the well-trodden path. I find the unknown irresistible and I’m happy to pay the price of failure for a glimpse of something unexpected."
"Occasionally, something new comes out of the kiln, something I haven’t seen before. We potters call it a “happy accident” but I believe these pleasant surprises are the result of that relentless search for the sublime which drives the creative spirit. I cannot claim these pieces as mine because, when viewed from an unselfconscious perspective, they are a product of the laws of physics following a causality all the way back to the beginning."
Roelof Uys studied Fine Art at East London Technical College, South Africa, and founded his first ceramics studio in Limpopo Province in 1992, before moving to St Ives in autumn 1999. Here he worked as a studio potter at the Gaolyard Studios founded by Leach Apprentice John Bedding. Roelof took up the role of Senior Production Potter at the internationally renowned Leach Pottery in May 2013. Now Lead Potter at the Leach Pottery, Roelof supervises the training of Apprentices and visiting students, and oversees the design and production of Leach Standard Ware.
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