Felicity Aylieff
Chinese blue and white porcelain had its origins in Henan province in the 9th century but by the 14th century it had started in Jingdezhen, China. Jingdezhen is where I have been making work for the last few summers. Whilst looking at the traditional techniques employed it has become clear to me that my approach to painting and drawing on pots should not be to merely make copies of historic pieces but more importantly to understand and learn from them. My approach needed to be radically different, contemporary, with a clear personal voice. In the series ‘Mapping Memory’ I am working with a free form brush mark creating lines that are instinctively expressive but well rehearsed from painting many pots repeatedly to gain a confidence, a familiarity, and integrity of mark. The pigment used is Ming Blue, a mix of cobalt and iron oxides to create dark inky blues that become soft and translucent when diluted. To encourage a richness and range in tonal palette I splash, paint and pour the underlying layer of glaze. This unevenness of thickness enhances the depth and intensity of pigment, and when fired, the painted surfaces reveal the layers or the ‘mapping’ of my drawing.
Born 1954
Education
1972-78 Bath Academy of Art BA Hons Three Dimensional Design: Ceramics
1978-79 Goldsmiths College ATC Post Graduate
1993-96 Royal College of Art M Phil Post Graduate Research: Ceramics
Memberships
Crafts Council Index of Selected Makers
Contemporary Applied Arts
Fellow, Craft Potters Association
Fellow of the Royal College of Art
Teaching
2002-Pres Royal College of Art Full Time Senior Tutor (CURRENT)
2007 External Examiner University of Ulster: MA & PhD ceramics 2007
2005 University of Ulster, External Examiner, BA Ceramics
2004-7 Cardiff School of Art External Examiner, BA Ceramics
2004-5 Acting Head of Department Bath Spa University
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2009 ‘Working to Scale’, Contemporary Applied Arts, London
Out of China,Monumental Porcelain by Felicity Aylieff, Lightbox Gallery, Woking
2008 Quest Gallery, Bath
Out of China,Monumental Porcelain by Felicity Aylieff, The Barn Gallery,West Dean.
Out of China,Monumental Porcelain by Felicity Aylieff, Shipley Art gallery, Gateshead
2007 Solo exhibition, Carlin Gallery, Paris
2003 Felicity Aylieff, Sense & Perception, Bath City Art Gallery
Felicity Aylieff, Sense & Perception, Blackwell House, Cumbria
2002 Sense & Perception, Manchester City Art Gallery, touring Blackwell
House, Cumbria, Bath City Art Gallery
Felicity Aylieff, Canary Wharf, London
Selected Group exhibitions
2009 Malerei auf Keramik, Handwerkskammer fur Munchen und Oberbayern, Germany
2008 Represented by Adrian Sassoon, Monumental Pots, Collect, V&A, London
Cup, Contemporary Applied Arts, London
Colourware, Flow, London touring Hub, Sleaford, Lincs
2007 Represented by Adrian Sassoon, Collect, V&A, London
Group exhibition, The Pot, the Vessel, the Object, touring Aberystwyth Arts centre, Design centre Bradford, The Hub Sleaford
Hue, Line and Form, Contemporary Applied Arts, London
Out of the Ordinary, Newport Museum and Art gallery
Work In Public Collections
2009 Shipley Art Gallery, Gateshead
2008 V&A, London
2008 Duke of Devonshire, Chatsworth House
2008 York Museum
2007 Stiftung Lotte Reimers, Deidesheim, Germany
2007 Stiftung Petra Verberne Venray, Netherlands
2007 Museum fur angewandte Kunst, Koln, Germany
2006 Chatsworth House
2005 Portsmouth City Museum
2005 Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery
2004 Contemporary Art Society
2004 Crafts Council Public Collection
2001 & 2003 World Ceramic Centre, Korea
2000 V&A, London