LCF Professor Charlotte Hodes was recently asked by the British Ceramic Biennial to create a new installation in Stoke-on-Trent. Charlotte was commissioned to create the installation because of her expertise in fine art, fashion and costume, her installation is currently on display and open until 28 November 2015.
Professor Hodes, a senior Researcher at LCF, created a tableware installation for the 2015 edition of Biennial. The tableware installation Spode Trees and Dressed Silhouettes takes the form of the aftermath of a dinner onto which printed imagery and texts found on the Spode Museum Trust Archive of engravings have been de-constructed, re-ordered and collaged onto the ware. The images and patterns cross over from one plate to another to create the impression that the women, presented in the form of silhouettes, have descended and are momentarily held in a seemingly random configuration.
Detail from Spode Trees and Dressed Silhouette by Charlotte Hodes
Women have often been allocated to the subservient role of both laying the table in preparation and the subsequent clearing up rather than being active participants. In this installation the women take ownership of their domestic landscape, moving effortlessly across the ware. The installation is the result of many years involvement with ceramics at Spode and a recent Arts Council of England Award 2014 (with artist Paul Scott) for research and development.
We recently caught up with Professor Charlotte Hodes following the news, we asked how she felt following the commission:
It was a very important event in the calendar for ceramics and for me it was an opportunity to show this commissioned installation, which is one of my most ambitious works to date in ceramics.
Charlotte Hodes next to the installation wearing a specially commissioned dress made by Wai Han, HO, an LCF MA Costume Design for Performance student
Running simultaneously to the the exhibition at BCB, Charlotte’s work can also be seen at the Harris Lindsay gallery in London. Entitled Silhouettes and Vessels: papercuts and ceramics the exhibition consists of a selection of vases, plates, papercuts and drawings by Charlotte.