Sharon Griffin MRSS

'I make work which explores the universal human condition...clay allows me the freedom for pure expression; a re-connectivity with the land and ancestral storytelling...'

Sharon Griffin is a figurative artist who specialises in ceramic sculpture directly inspired by the woodland where she often explores places in which to ‘breathe’.... The textures, the smells, the secret spaces all provide a kind of ‘awakening’... Sharon uses the human figure to help communicate a sense of deeper meaning within humankind and of her own experience of being a woman. The sculptures represent a state of being; internal struggles of love, loss, displacement, vulnerability and strength.

...'I wish to evoke 'feeling' and mirror 'gesture' through the use of fast marks, quick making techniques and 'sketches'. My work sometimes has an unfinished quality which adds to the idea that the figure is a suggestion of a living being rather than a still ornamental object. It is important to me that my figures have an identity and are able to connect with an audience in a non physical sense...'

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Sharon uses clay as a sculptural medium; a 3D canvas. Preliminary sketches in 2D and drawings from life inform the work, helping  ideas evolve. Once in the workshop however, when the clay is being worked with directly, the sculpture is allowed to reveal itself as it is worked with: a conversation with clay.

...' My ideas, feelings and thoughts are directly conveyed into the clay using the minimum of tools. The clay picks up every gestural mark, mirroring me... I push it around. The clay is almost part of me. Its my friend. a connectivity. A way of self expression without words...'

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Sharon is based in Wellington, Shropshire and works as a figurative artist and sculpture full time. Sharon also overseas and manages a community pottery workshop and is a fully qualified lecturer of art with many years of experience in teaching in mainstream FE and HE.