Artist Focus: Peter Hayes

“I have always been interested in - why and how 'things' are made of clay. One of the major introductions I had to ceramics was digging Neolithic iron age and roman samien shards on archaeological digs somewhere in Wales while trying to survive as an art student in Birmingham.  I am naturally drawn to shapes of artefacts and objects from other cultures and other times, but that remain timeless.

Erosion and change through time and nature are recorded in a piece.  My main aim in my work is not to compete with nature; but for the work to evolve within the environment.  The minerals, like iron and copper, that I introduce into the 'Raku' ceramic surface have their own affect on the clay during the time they are submerged in the river or the sea.  This erosion process continues with sanding so that the texture and cracks do not interrupt the surface but become an organic, integral part of the patina.  Each individual piece takes on its own developing surface; its own history and its own aesthetic.  I am merely the maker.”