In May, we had the pleasure of hosting a talk with contemporary ceramist Emilie Taylor as part of our exhibition, Conscious Clay. Alongside Dr Oliver Kent, Emilie Taylor discusses her newest work as a response to 1940s surrealist ceramist Sam Haile.
Emilie spoke about her approach to ceramics: slowly building vessels by hand using coils of clay, a technique familiar to many from school. Her practice involves gathering stories, often from people in urban settings whose experiences are absent from museum collections. For Emilie, the connection to Sam Haile comes through material and narrative. Both artists use the pot not just as a vessel, but as a surface for storytelling. Emilie’s use of iron and gold, symbolic of industry and human resilience, resonates with Haile’s explorations of form, meaning, and the human figure.
