In this month's meeting of the Bucks Pottery and Sculpture Society our guest speaker will be ceramicist Sophie Woodrow.
Each figure that Sophie makes begins with a small porcelain thumb pot that is then coiled and pinched; as it grows upwards the clay is incised, imprinted and modelled to create a richly textured surface. This is finished with eyes - two black holes that show us the dark space inside.
She describes her figures as "psychological portraits", inviting us to meditate on the relationship between our inner and outward reality - she explains "I think of bodies as permeable and unstable, as impressions and sensations flow around and through us".
Her figures are psychological portraits of the people we might be, to ourselves, for a moment, or from another angle. She is interested particularly in the impression that landscape leaves on us, and the contested boundaries between the landscape of the earth and the landscape of our imagination.
Through Sophie's work we are given a moment to reflect on our personhood as individuals, and the place we hold within the many social and natural systems that sustain us.
Examples of her work can be seen at www.sophiewoodrow.co.uk.
The meeting will be held at Little Kingshill Village Hall, Windsor Lane, Little Kingshill (HP16 0DZ) on Friday 27th June from 8-10pm. Entry is free for BPSS members, £5 for visitors. For more information about the Society see our website www.buckspotters.com - we are also on Facebook and Instagram.