Mary-jane Evans

Over the last 8 years I have carried on developing my career by exhibiting through a number of galleries and exhibitions.  A real highlight of my career was to get into the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in 2012 and since then I have exhibited 7 times at the Royal West of England Academy in Bristol. I make my living from selling and teaching. 

The main theme of my work is the transformation of materials which echo the forces, metaphors, substance and history within the Dorset landscape and urban destruction. Pushing materials to extremes is fundamental to my work. I use exciting and unpredictable techniques combining porcelain, slate, corrosive materials and minerals using the kiln as a time machine to scar and erode my pieces. Experimentation is essential to my work and I am constantly trying different methods of making to keep my work exciting and fresh. 

Inspiration for my work is from the Jurassic coast where I was born, urban destruction – images of war zones, architecture, paintings, sculpture, found objects.  Each piece of work is a unique hand built piece which is then multi-fired to 1280 degrees to get the results I desire.  The apparent fragility and hidden strenght of working with porcelain is something that fascinates me.