Lindy Martin

Lindy Martin’s fascination with ceramics began at an evening class six years ago and developed to such an extent that she gave up her job teaching in Further Education in order to study full time.

She graduated in 2014 from Carmarthen School of Art with a First Class Honours Degree. She is currently doing a residency there investigating the effects of locally sourced natural ingredients in glazes and clay bodies. She continues to teach part time and also runs workshops for the charity Arts Care/Gofal Celf.

Lindy describes how her surroundings inform her work:

I live near to Carmarthen Bay, a fascinating conjunction of three rivers where the boundaries of land, sky and sea meet and move in constantly changing patterns and the river carves forms into its own clay banks.

Walking the shore you cannot help become aware of the amount of waste littering the area. Objects and possessions are consumed and almost immediately are thrown out. Items are now made with built in obsolescence, skills and crafts start to disappear.

My work aims to question this. It is always handbuilt and does not hide the marks which show how the piece was made. The material is not disguised either, I like to let the clay have a say in its form and texture and choose firings in which the actions of the flames make their own marks.

This current body of work focuses on the ceramic icon – the tea set. A tea set can represent the social aspirations of its owner and reside in a glass fronted cupboard to be admired or it can be at the centre of the family, party to all their secrets, plots and dramas.

The forms I use are those of the British tea set whilst the glazes are those that often adorn the Eastern tea bowl, expressive and responsive to the kiln atmosphere.

I aim to make work that reflects the landscape, revels in its own materiality and intrigues the viewer with the possibilities of a narrative.

Lindy Martin’s website