Island Life Magazine Ltd April / May 2016 | Page 41

INTERVIEW

“For a Londoner who
had spent two cold
winters living in the
workshop, it was a
fantastic opportunity
to buy my own little
place in a lovely
environment.”

restaurant in Marlow, Buckinghamshire.
For these she used her distinctive
“altered edge” technique that has
become a hallmark of her work – and
which is now taking her in the novel
and somewhat quirky direction of
‘performance ceramics’.

Smashing effects
The technique involves smashing the
edge of pots with wood that’s been
‘painted’ with coloured slip to achieve
a one-off effect in terms of colour and
shape. It was a technique she first used
on the Kevin Costner commission, and is
now bringing back into play.
“I guess you could say that smashing

pots is not a normal thing!” she laughs,
“but it’s a great way to make a range of
one-off vessels. The thrown vessel is a
starting point for me: I make it very fine,
so there’s a lot you can do with it in the
drying stages”.
This unique way of working came
about after Sue was asked to speak and
demonstrate at a symposium in Israel.
“I was on stage in front of 300 people
and felt I had to raise my game a bit,” she
explains. “I ended up dropping a piece of
wood onto a vessel I’d made, and turned
it into a performance.
“The crowd screamed – but the work
that resulted was really dramatic”.
Since then, Sue has done two other
such ‘performances’, including one on

the Island – and it’s something she’s
interested in developing.
“I don’t talk during the performance,
it’s all very minimalist,” she says, “but I’ve
started to incorporate music.
“It gives an audience a real insight into
how I work, because in my studio I tend
to be silent, or have music on in the
background”.
Her next “smashing performance”
is scheduled for May 6 - 7 at the CAA
Gallery in London, as part of London
Craft Week.

Family balance
As a single mum to sons George, 13
and Will, 11, Sue is familiar with the
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