Lucy Whitford is a ceramic artist working from her home studio in South London. She has worked with clay for many years but has only recently begun to fire her work, giving it a newfound stability and enabling her to make vessel‑like forms. The studio overlooks her garden.
Lucy’s knowledge of how leaves unfurl is clear from her work, less overt is how she uses them to express human relationships and movement. She begins with two leaves, and their relationship informs those that follow, the leaves appearing to be in dialogue and motion. She includes intentional disruptors, and their solitude brings contrast and pause. These disruptors add to the uncontrolled and irregular nature of the finished work.
The acanthus is one of the inspirations for the Petrichor collection. Lucy is interested in history and mythology and the acanthus leaf is rich in both. It has been used consistently as an architectural and decorative motif since its first known use in ancient Greek architecture, and the story of Callimachus’s inspiration for the Corinthian column has made it variously a symbol of rebirth, immortality, and resurrection.
Each vessel is coiled and built by hand. The leaves are then pulled or applied; the thinness of their edges is as fine as stoneware can get. Each piece takes three to four days to sculpt and then needs to dry before firing, this takes between four and six weeks depending on size. It is important the body and leaves dry at the same rate to avoid cracking and this requires daily attention; the pieces are unwrapped, and moisture is added to moderate drying where necessary, they are then carefully rewrapped. Once bone dry, the vessels are fired over a 24‑hour period, allowing the clay to heat and cool slowly, again to prevent cracking.
Lucy has a no waste approach to her practice and reclaims all her clay by hand. This is the process of recycling excess unfired clay: collecting, soaking, mixing, and drying out the clay to the point where it can be wedged and reused.
Lucy’s work has balance in its asymmetry and much movement. Her understanding of, and ability to tell, human stories of fragility, strength, and tenderness make her work timeless and compelling.
Lucy is the winner of The Artisan Collab Rising Creator Fellowship 2023.
