All of the work you see here is built by hand, without an electric wheel, with each piece built up slowly using coils, slabs or pinching methods. Shapes may reoccur, but each object will be unique due to the process- these processes leave their mark and often you will find finger prints and wobbles created as the work is formed. These are tactile works, formed from a lump of clay with human hands.
Martha's ceramics are inspired by tales of her Icelandic grandparents fishing on frozen seas, using stars and birds to guide their way. The mark making on the pots follow the lines of their fishing nets and the migrating birds nod to her nomadic family line. Mugs represent the colliding of cultures when Martha's great grandparents moved to the British fishing port of Kingston Upon Hull in the 1920’s - where the frozen sailing continued, but with much needed tea breaks.
Born in Yorkshire, Martha grew up between family in the UK and the Spanish Canary Islands. After moving south to study her degree in Illustration at Cambridge School of Art, Martha spent 4 years living and drawing in Scotland before moving to New Zealand in 2017. She now spends her days illustrating and making ceramic creations inspired by her seafaring ancestors - it seems the further you go from home, the more you explore your connections to it.
