Derek Wilson is “a twenty-first century hybridization of studio potter and conceptual artist,” as he says, sculpting a diverse range of objects that blend the abstract and the familiar and extend across functional and sculptural pieces.
Wilson acquired a taste for modernism early on, growing up between Germany and Britain before moving to Belfast, Ireland, in the late 1990s. Drawing inspiration from midcentury British Constructivism and the utilitarian history of ceramics across Europe and Asia, Wilson works in both celadon-glazed porcelain and stoneware. For more on the artist, visit Derek Wilson and read Stephen Farnan’s editorial in Ceramic Review.
Above: A tea set in a transparent glaze sits on a dark stoneware tray.
Above: Wilson creates functional pieces for everyday use at the potter’s wheel.
Above: Colorful objects from We All Contain Things in 2012.
Above: A glimpse into Wilson’s office is a reflection of the artist’s standards of “restraint, containment, and minimalism.”
Above: Shades of blue-green glazed pieces from the Coloured Porcelain Tray series, 2012.
Above: Wilson carefully considers the hand-built aspects of each thrown container.
Above: An archival row of tall mugs glazed in light celadon on a light wooden tray.
Above: Porcelain stamps feature Wilson’s eponymous studio emblem.
Above: A large matte piece of stoneware from the Void series, 2011
More for the clay-obsessed: An Architect Turned Potter: Anchor Ceramics in Australia, Slow Ceramics from Tortus Copenhagen, Subversive Ceramics in Berlin, and The Quiet Storm: Organic Ceramics from Japan.
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