Sculpting Workshop: Low Relief Ceramic and Casting

A one-day workshop exploring low relief sculpting using clay, investigating the human body as volume in space, with the figure abstracted as postures of their position within a space. Led by ceramicist Emma Finch, this one-day workshop will introduce you to and develop the skills needed to create low relief clay plaques, exploring the use of the figure in space and developing a personal visual language to depict form and structure. As the plaques are progressed, they can be cast in plaster to retain a reverse copy at different stages. Casting from clay, using plaster, allows the possibility of casting multiples, as well as capturing on-going work in a series of casts and developing the plaster piece/s after casting. The resulting positive and negative pieces offer different qualities, techniques and interpretations. These processes and techniques can be used as a way of accessing understanding and creating in a self reflective way. The workshop is for people of all abilities. • Working with a free and expressive approach that allows for spontaneity, alterations and a natural evolution in making • Making individual responses and personal interpretations • Considering ways to represent abstract concepts and aspects of character through posture and orientation • Exploring abstraction and considering representation though mark-making, composition and form • Investigating the significance of form, surface texture/mark-making and construction technique Programme: 10 – 11am: An introduction to the workshop and an opportunity to explore ideas through sketching. 11 – 12: A demonstration, followed by the construction of the basic plaque base. Exploring techniques 12 – 1 pm: Lunch in the Roth Bar & Grill 1 – 3.30 pm: Developing the plaques and casting The plaster work can be taken home at the end of the session. Emma Finch has her own ceramic practice, with a BA from Bath Spa University and an MA from the Royal College of Art. She teaches in schools colleges and universities in the UK and abroad as well as through galleries and museums including The Holburne Museum in Bath and The Queen’s Gallery, London. Ticket price includes lunch in the Roth Bar & Grill.