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Twenty-five early career artists have been selected to take part in the British Ceramics Biennial, a six-week celebration of clay in Stoke-on-Trent from 23 September to 5 November 2023. Their work will be part of Fresh, one of the flagship exhibitions of the Biennial.
These bright new talents – chosen from over 300 applications – are united by their ambition to embark on ceramics careers, and by their commitment to their material as a way of addressing some of the most pressing issues of our time. Among the 25 artists are:
- Martha Wiles, who specialises in ornate conversation pieces questioning the sustainability of our food system
- Erum Aamir, a former physicist who fuses scientific research with artistic imaginings
- Hugo Hutchins, who combines pop culture and queer life in his work
- Caroline Chouler-Tissier, who uses clay to explore memory, personal and environmental grief and the wider influence of societal expectations on the self
- Paul Anthony Griffin, whose work incorporates Celtic mythical legends and is inspired by Brehon law – the ancient legal system of Ireland, which recognised the interconnectedness of humans and the natural world
Fresh 2023 was selected by a panel of contemporary ceramics advocates, professionals and community members, including a Fresh Youth Panel, which comprised 27 year-7 students from Thistly Hough Academy, Stoke-on-Trent; Professor Moira Vincintelli, Emeritus Professor of Art History and Consultant Curator of Ceramics at Aberystwyth University; Reiko Kaneko, designer and educator; Shane Porter, Lecturer (Product), Ulster University; and Simon Bayliss, studio potter and fine artist.
Fresh Talent Residencies
Fresh Talent Residencies will be awarded to four of the 25 artists during the British Ceramics Biennial 2023. The four residencies will take place through partnerships with Staffordshire University, Guldagergaard International Ceramics Research Centre, in Denmark and Grymsdyke Farm, in Buckinghamshire. The fourth residency will be hosted directly by the British Ceramics Biennial in the BCB Studio based on the original Spode factory site in Stoke-on-Trent. The four artists will then return to showcase their work at the next Biennial in 2025.
“The applications for the BCB Fresh exhibition demonstrated the challenging and exciting range of work being produced in ceramics at the moment. It was also great to see that the people selected represented different age groups and pathways into the field from students coming from full-time training to mature students returning after long breaks and self-taught makers.”
-Professor Moira Vincintelli
The eighth edition of the British Ceramics Biennial takes place in Stoke-on-Trent from 23 September to 5 November 2023. Free entry.
Fresh 2023 Exhibitors
Fresh is one of the main exhibitions in the British Ceramics Biennial which returns to Stoke-on-Trent for its eighth edition with a line-up of exhibitions, installations and events shown against the backdrop of the city’s industrial heritage. Fresh is sponsored by Stoke-on-Trent based supplier of ceramics and sculpture products, Potterycrafts. For 2023, the Biennial has a new venue, All Saints Church in Hanley, which will be home to Fresh.
The 25 artists exhibiting in Fresh are Erum Aamir, Adi Avidani, Caroline Chouler-Tissier, Tim Fluck, Oxana Geets, Nina Gerada, Caroline Gray, Paul Griffin, Jana Griffiths, Kieran Harris, Hugo Hutchins, Jihyun Kim, Charlotte Ladd, Andrea Leigh, Melissa Murray, Chi Onwordi, Tracey O’Shea, Poppy Pippin, Lottie Stoddart, Krzysztof Strzelecki, Rebecca Toumazi, Peter Trnkus, Oliver Turnpenney, Martha Wiles and Carla Wright.
British Ceramics Biennial funders
British Ceramics Biennial is proud to be an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation and is supported by the City of Stoke-on-Trent Council and Staffordshire University, alongside multiple project-based funders and sponsors including Potterycrafts (sponsor of Fresh and the Talent Development Programme) and Paul Hamlyn Foundation (Transferer / Fresh Youth Panel).