Jane King

Jane King’s ceramic sculptures feature bold contrasts, playful and inviting. Her work is driven by the reflection that contemporary life, especially as it is presented on social media, is often a fiction – a curated, controlled, and idealised version of ourselves, rather than a reflection of the real, often challenging and imperfect nature of existence. This idea is explored through the physical characteristics of Jane’s sculptures, with form, surface and colour acting as metaphors for structure and order, versus the organic and irregular.

Jane makes a small number of new works each year. She makes carefully, in a controlled way, but then tries to contradict her need for control by working in a freer, more expressive way, on the same piece. For example, she might throw a regular cylinder on the wheel, and then squeeze it quickly out of shape, or apply some sticky clay over the surface. Or she might meticulously hand-build a geometric, angular form, and then attach a free-flowing rippled slab, or corrupt it with a more organic, growth-like form, or rough texture. The balance between precision and expressiveness can be challenging to achieve.

Surface treatments include dark glazes offset by vivid acrylic colour, which is applied at the final stage. This use of non-ceramic material provides an additional means of achieving contrast, not just in colour but in surface quality and feel – and an element of the unexpected. Jane makes small series of works, related through their overall form and concept. Through drawing and research alongside making, forms evolve into new combinations and visual stories, leading to the development of new series.

Jane works from her home studio in Brighton, on the south coast of England. When she is not making, she teaches ceramics at a local college, and enjoys running, swimming and reading.