Matthew Blakely’s wheel-thrown porcelain and stoneware is a rich interaction of clay and glaze. His generally simple forms – bowls, jars and lidded pots predominate – have surfaces of great movement, suggestive of ice flows or the energies of water. He also makes good functional pieces including teapots and pourers inventively turned and embellished. Blakely spent many years in Australia where he studied at the National Art School in Sydney (winning the State Medal in 1993) and then established studios, before returning to the UK in 2002, where he is now based at Lode in Cambridgeshire. Here he develops new combinations of clay and glaze, enjoying the dynamic and depth of surface achieved in these fresh integrations. From his ethereal celadon to the geological depth of his slips, Blakely is a restless re-inventor of the ceramic surface.
David Whiting