Artist Statement
I have been working with clay for over 30 years, creating pieces for sale, exhibitions and retail. Alongside my studio practice, I have taught at institutions such as Central St Martins and the University of Brighton and have worked with the Liverpool Biennial and consulting with Turner Prize-winning collective, Assemble.
In 2014, I founded Baltic Clay, a ceramics studio in Liverpool, which offers both ceramic classes for beginners and drop-in access for more experienced potters. This studio has become a creative hub, fostering a community of ceramic enthusiasts.
My recent work has turned inward, exploring a more personal history that draws from my childhood and teenage years. I am researching the queer figures and artists who shaped my identity as I navigated my own sense of self. Influential figures such as Derek Jarman and Angus Suttie played a crucial role in my artistic and personal development. Their unflinching, political, and beautiful works—created at a time when being gay was fraught with societal and political challenges—continue to inform my practice today. Their courage in expressing identity and desire through art has been a constant source of inspiration.
I predominantly work with stoneware clays, using oxides, slips, watercolours and wax to create richly textured surfaces. My work is narrative-driven, telling stories that intertwine creativity with adversity, beauty with struggle. I use a variety of hand building techniques, hand painting with underglazes and coloured slips, sanding and distessing surfaces to create layers of colour and interest.
For Collect 2024, I created Journey to the Fifth Quarter, a series of 13 ceramic wall panels inspired by a trip I took to Dungeness in the 1990s while living in Brighton. Dungeness was home to Derek Jarman, whose films and art had a profound impact on my life, teaching me that queer existence could be both difficult and beautiful, filled with magic and complexity. This series reflects that journey—both physical and emotional—and the ongoing resonance of Jarman's work in my own practice.
Email itschristurrell@hotmail.com
Follow me on Instagram on chris turrell ceramics
Crafts Council Directory of Makers link here
Biog
February 28th - 3rd March 2025 New work “The Conversation” part of Collect Open, Somerset House, London
March 1 -3rd 2024 New work at Collect 2024, Somerset House, London
April 7- 10th 2022 New work at Ceramic Art London, Granary Square, London
July - August 2021 FORM- group show, three pieces selected for Highgate Contemporary Gallery, The Chocolate Factory, London
June 2021 In the Window, solo show of new work at Bluecoat Display Centre, Liverpool
December 2020 Potters On Pots feature in the January- February 2021 edition of Ceramic Review
Sept 2020 In the Window, solo show of new work for Bluecoat Display Centre, Liverpool
Oct 2019 Wonderbeast selected by CPA committee for the 10th Yixing International Ceramic Art Fair, China
Oct 2018 Awarded Selected Membership for the Craft Potters Association
April - September 2018 Creative Rage opens at the Potteries Museum in Stoke on Trent with new piece, Don't Look at Me
October- November 2017 New piece made for the group show, "Creative Rage" at The Gallery, Liverpool
July 2016 Commissioned by Liverpool Biennial to fabricate ceramic pieces for international artist Jumana Manna for Tate Liverpool
January- March 2016 Ceramic Consultant to Assemble- advice and process development for their ceramic handles range
September - January 2013 AA2A Residency at Hope University. Exhibition at Capstone Gallery with work developed through the residency
July 2012 Large scale ceramic and glass wall panel for Sheldrakes Restaurant in Wirral. Made with Leandra Holder