University for the Creative Arts   2008/2009

Caron Ottewell

My time on the AA2A scheme has allowed me to follow an idea and extend a body of work with materials and techniques I would not have been able to use in my studio.

I started with a selection of postcard assemblages and wanted to explore making these into printed ceramic souvenirs. I was interested in looking at the properties that change when something permanent is made from a throwaway object.

In discussion with Marie-Anne McQuay the artist Ruth Caxton states that the postcard and the ornament are both similar, collectable “souvenirs” and can be viewed as a substitute for the memories associated with them. Cutting postcards and making them into ceramics both have an inbuilt failure in the process – sometimes you tear the postcards and sometimes the ceramics break when firing. This forces you to engage with the physical limitations of the objects.

My aim was not to replicate the postcards but to explore them as a series of potential memories looking at how we can be in the same place and remember something quite different.

My experience of the AA2A scheme has been entirely positive. It has been well organised, easy to access and a great way to meet other artists. It was also really interesting to go back to my art school as a practising artist and be able to work alongside students. They were interested in both the work I was making and also how you get on after you graduate. I have made good friends there and shall continue to work with them after the scheme has finished.