Masterclass with Patricia Volk

Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, I am a sculptor based on the border of Wiltshire and Somerset. I studied art at Middlesex Polytechnic and Bath as a mature student and discovered clay in my 30s. I love working with the directness of clay, using all the techniques, including coiling and slab building. I make one-off pieces, which are fired, constructed, then finished with acrylic paint.

My obsession is with catching a very simple form or line, then enhancing it with bold colour. Sometimes these stand alone or are in combinations that I hope suggest opposites such as strength and fragility, stability and precariousness – reflecting the relationships we have as human beings.

What excites me is the abstraction rather than trying to create a piece that represents or illustrates an idea. For me, working in clay is like play. I am dyslexic and have trouble expressing ideas in words, so I chose a medium where words aren’t necessary. Or, you could say, it chose me.

I put one colour against another in a way that I find satisfying or dynamic. It is purely visual and non-intellectual. Sometimes I know what is going on in my head, but more often than not, I let my hands do the ‘thinking’. That doesn’t mean it is easy – far from it. I take a long time to consider the exact colours to use and weigh them up. Some might watch my activity and indecision and think it is obsessive.

I like the thought that the pieces look light and float – a contradiction to the obvious physical weight of clay. I also like the idea of uplift. I am adamant my pieces should be viewed at eye level, by walking around and looking at them from different angles. The surface texture can work to make the flatness of colour more nuanced and less machine-manufactured looking, adding a natural edginess on a vivid unnatural blue, for instance.

I always work on a series of pieces at the same time because of the nature of the material (you cannot rush it), but the finished product is defined by the time it is modelled. This can be affected by all sorts of things: the weather, temperature, my mood, and so on.

I would like the combination of non-figurative form and colour combination to set off a series of ideas in the viewer’s mind – tranquillity, elegance, power, sadness, rest, action, conflict, a sense of movement… all these things triggering human emotions of some kind. 

For more details visit patriciavolk.org; @patriciavolk

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