Clay has been my medium for over 40 years. I am influenced by Modernism, and while at art school in Copenhagen during the 1960s I was taught that there are strict rules about what should and should not be made. I have mellowed over the years and can now allow myself to experiment with works I previously would not have considered making, but I feel the responsibility to be careful about what I make.
HANNE WESTERGAARD
Email: hannewestergaard@googlemail.com
Website: www.hannewestergaard.co.uk
Clay has been my medium for over 40 years. I have been potting since I first discovered ceramics, and have gone through different viewpoints about my work. I am influenced by Modernism.
While at art school in Copenhagen I was taught that there are strict rules about what should and should not be made. I have mellowed over the years and can now allow myself to experiment with works I previously would not have considered making. But I feel a responsibility to be careful about what I make. The world is full of objects, and I do not want to add to that multiplicity unless I feel I have something worthwhile to say in doing so. I do not make as many pots as I used to, but perhaps I put more thinking into them. A vital part of my life is my ceramics, and I get much of my inspiration from nature: walking on the moors and by the sea, looking at the ever-changing light and the rhythms in the patterns of nature. I enjoy the making process and the firing; the excitement after a firing and the wait before the kiln opening, where it is revealed which ideas have worked and which have not. There are many disappointments, but in-between I may get something out that ‘shines’, and that is what makes me want to carry on being a maker.
SELECTED SOLO SHOWS
2011 Nature Observed, 20-21 Visual Arts Centre, Scunthorpe
2009 Nature Observed, Persistence Works, Sheffield
2009 Winter Show, Working Woodland Gallery, Sheffield
2008 Sand Prints, NWT Cley Marches Visitors Centre, North Norfolk
2007 Sand Prints, Cupola Contemporary Art, Sheffield
2004 Cupola Gallery, Sheffield
2000 Showcases, Rotherham Arts Centre
1998 Showcase, Ruskin Gallery, Sheffield
1996 Exhibition, Royal Danish Embassy, London
1996 Exhibition, Cupola Gallery, Sheffield
1994 One Person Show, Cupola Gallery, Sheffield
1989 The Vase, One Person, Goldsborough Gallery, Knaresborough
1987 Plates, One Person Sideshow, Rufford Craft Centre
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2016 The Old Railway Station Gallery Rowsley
2016 The Millennium Gallery Sheffield
2014 Oriel Davies Open Art Exhibition
2014 Cooper Gallery Barnsley
2014 The Hepworth Wakefield, Winter Fair
2014 Garden Up, Sheffield Botanical Gardens
2014 Oriel Davies Open Art exhibition 2014
2013 Makers, Cube Gallery, Manchester
2013 Open Art Exhibition, Ferens Art Gallery, Kingston-upon-Hull
2012 Opening Exhibition, Gallery 41, Watchet, Somerset
2011 Drawn by the East Coast, Studio 11 Gallery, Kingston-upon-Hull
2011 Open exhibition, Ferrens Art Gallery, Kingston-upon-Hull
2010 Oriel Wrecsam – Applied Arts Showcase, Oriel Wrecsam, Wrexham
2010 Art in the Garden 2010, Sir Harold Hillier Gardens, Romsey, Hampshire
2010 Re-Coefficients Dining Club, Millennium Gallery, Sheffield
2008 Derby City Open Art Exhibition, Derby Museum and Art Gallery, The Strand,Derby
2008 Northern Light, The Craft Centre And Design Gallery, City Art Gallery Leeds
2008 The Face Of The Earth, Nature in Art, Wallsworth Hall, Twigworth, Gloucester
2007 Fundamentals, Cupola Contemporary Art, Sheffield
2007 Here and now, Persistence Works, Sheffield
2007 New year showcase, Bilston Craft Gallery, Bilston
2006 15 anniversary Exhibition, Cupola Contemporary Arts, Sheffield
2003 The Biscuit Factory, Newcastle upon Tyne
2003 The Bessemer Open, Sheffield Winter Garden, Sheffield
2002 Potfest-in-the-Park, Hutton-in-the-Forest, Penrith, Cumbria
2001 Porcelain, Cupola Gallery, Contemporary Art, Sheffield
2001 Ceramics Showcase, Craft Centre and Design Gallery, Leeds City Art Gallery
2000 Christmas Crafts, Piece Hall Art Gallery, Piece Hall, Halifax
2000 Artspace 2000, Barn Galleries, Aston, Henley on Thames
2000 Art in Clay, Hatfield House, Hertfordshire
2000 Danish Applied Arts, Hawker Gallery, The Maltings, Amersham, Buckinghamshire
1992 Trailblaze, Midland Station, Sheffield
1992 Piece Hall Art Gallery, Halifax
1992 Two Person Show, Cupola Gallery, Sheffield
1991 Cultural Festival for XVI Universiade, Globe Works, Sheffield
1988 Two Person Show, Kirsten Kjaers Museum, Denmark
QUALIFICATIONS
• 1964 Diploma in Ceramics, four-year full-time course (equivalent to BA Hons), Kunsthandvaerker Skolen, School of Art, Craft and Design, Copenhagen, Denmark
• 1987 Mouldmaker’s Certificates I and II, North Staffordshire Polytechnic
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
• 1964/72 Part-time ceramics teaching at various further education institutions, Copenhagen
• 1989/94 Part-time lecturer, ceramics, Rotherham College of Art and Technology
RESIDENCES
2004 Artist in Residence, Guldagergaard International Ceramic Research Center, Denmark
COLLECTIONS
• Pinchen Collection, City Museum and Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent
• Munksgards Kunstforening, Art Association, Copenhagen, Denmark
• Guldagergaard International Ceramic Research Center, Denmark
PRIZES & AWARDS
• Individual Crafts Award, Yorkshire Arts, 1986
• Individual Award, Yorkshire and Humberside Arts, 1996
• Individual Award, Yorkshire Arts, 1999
• Craft Pottery Charitable Trust Award, 2004
• Equipment Grant, Arts Council England, 2004
AREAS OF WORK
Exhibiting / installations / public art / private commissions / workshops / residencies
