Robert Cooper
Each one of Robert Cooper’s complex, quirky, exuberant vessels is like a time machine taking you on a whistle-stop journey through ten thousand years of the history of world ceramics. From the earthworks of Neolithic Britain via the tea-houses of ancient Japan to the pottery factories of twentieth century Staffordshire and then on to the future of contemporary studio ceramics these pots encapsulate a rich and varied itinerary of reference material. Only recently diagnosed as dyslexic, Cooper has, nevertheless, long acknowledged his difficulty in communicating via the written word. He has compensated by building up a highly personal visual and tactile language given expression through the medium of clay. As well as conveying his passion for the history of the clay vessel Cooper’s ceramics also serve the purpose of a journal: the making process is a means of documenting ideas, emotions and reactions to both personal life and the wider culture. Here is no bland, innocuous minimalism – life is too short and there is too much to do and say. The pieces open their narratives with each fingerprint, fold and tear in the body of the clay. Multiple storylines are introduced through various applications of silk-screen printing, free-hand drawing, glazes and transfers. Only after repeated firings with lustres and enamels is the plot finally revealed – or, occasionally, lost! Pick up a piece, slip through a worm-hole in time, feel the history, engage in a dialogue, have a laugh: these are pots to enliven your heart and mind Born 1949 Sheffield Education
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