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 porcelain beakers decorated with wild clay slips beneath the glaze. Reduction fired in a gas kiln, where oxygen levels are restricted during firing to encourage rich glaze reactions and tonal variation.

Each piece is influenced by its position within the kiln and the variables of the firing process. No two are the same—each beaker carries its own unique surface and story.

Porcelain

9x9x9cm