Jill Bryars

Jill Bryars describes clay as being a material of integrity combined with rich historical reference. Her strange almost zoomorphic forms communicate an atmosphere of the prehistoric reminding the viewer of how human beings have often used the material of clay to grapple with the experience of being alive.

"Since becoming a mother I realise that I have unintentionally begun making my children in clay. It seems unavoidable. I draw them and the progression to clay feels natural."

Personal themes to do with motherhood are set alongside the humour and ambiguity of stories, nursery rhymes and myths. Her figure constructions often combine elements of human, animal and bird, creating complex characters that perhaps suggest ideas about relationships and experiences.

"The figure, particularly the head and face invite special attention and together with extensive drawing are the focal point of my work. I aim to invoke in the viewer intrigue and a sense of the archaic."

In her recent work, Jill has been inspired by a series of pencil drawings of her nephews, developed into clay by repeatedly casting a small white figure. The work invites speculation about the grouping of apparently identical figures together. They create an intriguing and mysterious atmosphere.

Claire Curneen

Claire Curneen's beautifully delicate ceramic forms are hand built in terracotta and porcelain and capture the fragility of human life. The works remind us of devotional works of art in Christian iconography, and have a profound other worldly presence, suggesting both frailty and strength.

"I aim to cause one to pause and absorb the object, to experience the form.

The structures are formed by pinching pieces of clay together, creating a surface that retains the sense of the artist's touch. Like human skin, it appears thin and stretched in places, in others the clay bulges and wrinkles. In fact her working process often results in figures and forms not surviving the firing, but Claire Curneen exults in a process that pushes the clay to its limits. She loves the energy and integrity of clay. It possesses a kind of purity that somehow returns human beings to contact with the earth. The figures and tree forms by Claire Curneen are elemental. They are powerful and primitive. One could begin to imagine that they possess almost magical qualities. They speak of a deeper knowledge and experience, of another way of living that is more reflective, more gentle, more wise.

Anne Gibbs

"It is the ability of objects to be simultaneously signs and symbols, to carry a true part of the past into the present, but to bear perpetual reinterpretation, which is the essence of their peculiar and ambiguous power." (S.M Pearce)

Anne Gibbs assembles collections that recall museum artefacts and archaeological finds.

Knitted objects cast in ceramic, bowls and forms embellished with wire, pins and nails and machine stitched drawings all communicate a profound sense of the fleeting nature of human existence. They speak of domestic worlds, the arena in which human beings live out their lives. Household objects and domestic utensils have a practical use in the home and Anne Gibbs subverts their original purpose, shifting the focus to perceive them in different ways.

"I want to create a mood or a feeling of intrigue and curiosity."

The whiteness of these works contributes to a sense of space and reflection. They have a luminous quality. When displayed alongside each other, there is a sense that they are all somehow laid bare. One speculates on their ambiguity, their history and purpose. They are precious and fragile, and yet somehow possess a profound enduring resilience. The works have a feeling of permanence, like archaeological finds, they speak of the past and return us to the present.