The Ceramics & Glass graduates at London’s Royal College of Art enjoyed the benefit of the natural light-filled main gallery space at the college this year, which gave added lustre to a sparkling show.

Amy Hughes is fascinated by Sevrès porcelain and its focus on the unblemished surface with no mark of the hands of the makers involved. Amy has revisited the classic Sevrès vases using humble materials and reduction-fired porcelain to create her own versions that carry the echo of the detailing from the originals.

Edmond Byrne’s work is concerned with tactility and mark making on the surface of glass. Using a mould blowing technique, Edmond adds marks into the glass, that are then accented by the use of opaque colours. Starting with drawings, Edmond turns these ideas into moulds made from textile, clay and plaster, that can only be used the once.

Hanne Enemark’s work is rooted in her Danish background – a love of simplicity through subtle shape and colour. Works shown at the RCA include the Cracked Rim series in blown glass with gold detail and the Crystal series in cold-worked and fire-polished glass.

Working also in glass, Mylen Eliot is fascinated about the heritage of ancient/traditional crafts and how these works can be given new meaning in today’s world. Referencing the traditional chandelier, as an object classically seen as luxuriant and decadent, Mylen adds subversive layers by incorporating erotic and sexual elements.

Mylen works in hot glass in its fluid state, responding intuitively to the ever-changing liquid state of the molten glass. To control and contain the blown pieces, Mylen makes 3-D structures of copper wire, and the blown glass bubble is expanded within the constriction of the ‘cage.’ Mylen also uses steel to assemble the glass elements of larger installations.

Sun Ae Kim presented her work as a classic dinner table under the intriguing title of When Eve ate apples, Much depends on Dinner. Inspired by European figurines from the 18th and 19th century, Sun Ae Kim has created contemporary versions of storytelling tableware. Today’s London lady and her lifestyle brought to life in black and white.

Matthew Raw’s work centres on the sense of displacement felt by asylum seekers. Journey, in extruded terracotta, is concerned with ‘The consequence of people being illiterate in an unfamiliar language is simple: confusion….In the case of British based asylum seekers, knowledge of English is key to launching an application to stay in the apparent safety of Britain. However, panic caused by that illiteracy means many are left in extremely difficult situations.’

Zachary Eastwood-Bloom explores the link between craft and digital for a series of experimental works. Information Ate My Table in beech wood has been digitally programmed, whereas the outdoor series 21st Century Landscape Triptych in resin is created by hand to appear laser-cut. Zachary is working on a system to produce designs via the patterns created by waves of music, via music specially composed for him.

Koji Shiraya is concerned with the harmony of nature’s beauty and man’s use of it. Koji uses only two materials, porcelain and feldspar, and by combining them in different percentages under controlled heat, Koji explores the textural forms created by this union – always in white. The whiteness takes away any meanings left by colour, allowing the viewer to enjoy the rich material forms.

Hanne Mannheimer’s work focuses on the combination of the ‘found and made’ with an abstract idea. Seventy Four Threads of Life takes its inspiration from the Greek myth of the Fates who spun each individual’s thread of life, deciding its length. Hanne’s threads have been spun from wool and dipped in porcelain slip to create fragile organic pieces that highlight a sense of impermanence.

Annabel Wightman’s installation entitled Evasion depicts a series of 20 watt lightbulbs above a wax hand that as it melts, drips dramatically down to the floor. Annabel describes the work as ‘relating to the illusory nature of time: each hand and light bulb depicts a point of departure between man and nature.’

Annabel’s other work at the show, Spheroid, featured a large borasilicate glass block inset with a domed form made up of LED lights that reflected haloes of light onto the glass.

Bethan Lloyd Worthington’s work The Wild Places took its inspiration from the book of the same name, that explores the remote areas of the British Islands. Fragments of drawings are recreated onto Royal Crown Derbyware using traditional western enamel painting techniques and non-traditional composition for, as Bethan describes it, a fresh luxury.

Bethan’s other project Wildeor explores the concept of wilderness in a conceptual piece involving porcelain, mould-blown glass, steel nails, rope, cord and electrical tape through to a foie gras funnel and boat paint.

RCA London

Hanne Enemark
Mylene Elliot
Sun Ae Kim
Matthew Raw
Zachary Eastwood-Bloom
Koji Shiraya
Hanne Mannheimer
Bethan Lloyd Worthington
Annabel Wightman

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