Hon. President:- Joe Finch

Hon. Member:- Henry Sandon

Helen Nottage

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I graduated from the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff in July 2002, with a BA (Hons.) Ceramics. I have since completed a MA at Wolverhampton University.

I have used my MA to develop my professional practise and to branch out into different areas of art; developing work to be encountered in different realms such as public art and gallery pieces.  The work I have created has been united by the theme of mental health, evolving from my previous body of work which took inspiration from wider aspects of the human condition.

I have been working on vessel forms associated with the wider field of health.  I produced apothecary jars inspired by the elegant shape of traditional glass pharmacy jars and bell jars which were a popular form of presentation exemplified by Victorian anatomical displays.

Visual motifs such as the beetle, head and brain slice developed initially from looking at inkblots and my personal interpretation of them.  I used these elements to produce inkblot inspired collages which I have incorporated into the surface of my work in various ways, producing a collage with the objects and exploring print.  I chose to use the process of Raku and smoke firing to give an archaic quality to the final pieces and the iridescent quality of raku glazes also characteristic of beetles.

I have used the motif of the scarab beetle, appropriating its Egyptian significance and visual link to the thalamus in the brain.  I have referenced phrenology heads in the style I use to incorporate a figurative element into the work.  These are displayed both as part of the inkblot and as separate pieces.  The individual heads are displayed in the style of medical models but also involve text to give a usually clinical object a personal context. I read a variety of memoirs, poetry and fiction based on the theme of mental health and was particularly inspired by the work of Sylvia Plath.  Her use of the bell jar to represent the alienation she experienced has inspired my use of form and the message behind the work.