Florence Dwyer: Engaging in Meaningful Ways of Creative Making

My work often draws on research into craft histories and references recognised design objects, exploring the language embedded within making and their encounters within society. This usually allows me to draw on themes surrounding gendered work, capitalism and the transculturation of craft and objects.  

I'm also quite influenced by the processes underpinning experimental archaeology – a field of study which generates and tests archaeological hypotheses through studying how we encounter and interrogate objects of the past through practical processes. This usually involves the re-making of objects through adopting the assumed techniques of the previous maker. This then usually evolves through experimenting with colour, pattern and form. This has recently involved investigations into handmade ceramic glazes and textile dyes made from plant matter, wood ashes and collected pigments. I am interested in exploring experimental material processes and how this can provide contextual grounding to the objects I make. 

Can you tell us about your residency in Japan as part of the Scotland/Japan exchange programme? What are some of the main elements you took away from this experience? 

It was a great residency that I felt extremely lucky to be part of, it has definitely had a huge impact on my practice. For most of the three-month period I was based in Arita, a town in the southern island of Kyushu that's considered to be the birthplace of Japanese porcelain and is famous for its Arita-ware. Most people that live there, work and interact with porcelain in one way or another, either within a factory, workshop, trading space, shop or packaging manufacturers. Given the profound and dense ceramic history of the area, there was so much to be inspired by.  

I started off the residency by undertaking a kind of placement within one of the largest factories there called Jyusha (factory of 10 kilns). Here I helped out with finishing, cleaning and neatening lots of porcelain soap dishes, cosmetic trays and ginger crushers prior to their first firing in the kiln. I also had a go at and learned about traditional Arita-ware painting, which involves using cobalt oxide to create the recognisable blue and white style. They often feature botanical motifs and scenes within nature and are inspired by Chinese and South Korean ceramics.  

After this placement, I moved to work in a studio within the town's porcelain research laboratory and found myself getting particularly into turning and carving plaster on a wheel, sculpting a series of different small perfume bottle-shaped forms, which I then cast in porcelain. These were definitely influenced by the delicacy and scale of most of the porcelain objects I was handling in Arita and Jyusha as well as referencing some of the wares found in the Jyusha archives and other recognised design objects.  

I also spent some time in Tokyo, camping in the mountains, and taking a trip to the small island of Shikinejima. Throughout this time, I was totally absorbed by the design and beauty contained within different vernacular and domestic objects. This was definitely inspired by The Japan Folk Crafts Museum, established by the founder of the Mingei movement which celebrated the hand-crafted art of ordinary people. The attention to detail and design I encountered within Arita, paired with the honesty to materials I encountered within the different vernacular objects throughout my whole stay in Japan has certainly influenced the way I work today. 

You’ve volunteered with Project Ability as part of the Art Matters team and have also undertaken a ReSearch Residency. How has your work in this area impacted how you approach art today? 

Project Ability was a wonderful place to be able to undertake a residency and volunteer. I can really get behind the ethos of the organisation and how it whole-heartedly encourages people to express themselves creatively within a supportive, inclusive and exciting environment. I undertook this placement quite a few years ago when I was just starting to work with and host workshops for people with experiences of mental health and additional support needs. It made me realise the importance of creating a good setting and a nice environment for people to work in, and how this can allow people to absorb themselves within making processes. 

Being at Project Ability also made me realise that the best work is made when it's coming from you, and when it is true to yourself and your interests. I loved being surrounded by the stacks of huge canvases expressively painted with animals, characters and people, as well as going into the ceramics room and seeing sculptures and pots sitting alongside one another. I try to think about this energy and the honesty to making that was captured within these studios when I'm getting distracted, over-influenced by something or when I'm getting stuck in a making process that I don't find enjoyable. I often think this can be visible within the end results of the objects I make. 

Image: Courtesy of Florence Dwyer

You deliver workshops and outreach projects for community groups that explore different making processes. Why is this something that you find an important part of your practice? And what do participants tend to take away from the workshops?