Alison West’s wheel-thrown ceramics unite traditional craft with a deep connection to the natural world and a fascination with the unpredictability of fire. Her long-established practice of saggar firing, in which vessels are enclosed in protective containers with foraged organic materials, produces subtle smoke patterns and organic traces across each surface. Every firing welcomes chance, resulting in works marked by distinctive, atmospheric qualities.

Her forms draw inspiration from the refined elegance of classical Greek pottery and the restrained simplicity of Japanese ceramics. Central to her practice is terra sigillata, an ancient Greek and Roman technique that creates an ultra-fine clay slip by separating the smallest clay particles. When burnished and fired, this slip forms a soft, polished surface without glaze. Alison refines Devon wild clays and Ball Clays to make these slips, layering them over Cornish clay forms to express local colour, texture, tradition, and place within a timeless ceramic dialogue.

Wheel-thrown in Cornish stoneware and reduction fired, these beakers explore the interaction between wild clay slips and glaze. The slips, gathered locally, react unpredictably in the firing, producing layered surfaces with tonal variation and movement. Intended for daily use, the work balances function with an evolving material language rooted in place. 

Cornish Soneware

9x9x9cm