Pierre Williams

Anatomical features and figures are placed against architectural shapes in Pierre William’s ceramic sculptures, inspired by the juxtaposing forms found in everyday human interactions with their surroundings. His distinctive style was born from a quick, direct method of decorating; using materials from around his studio to create pieces that, when assembled together, resemble an eclectic museum ceramics cabinet. With his work in private collections internationally and having shown both in the UK and New York, Williams’ upcoming exhibitions include the Affordable art fair, Battersea in October and Windsor Contemporary Art Fair in November.

Can you tell us about your journey as an artist; have you always worked with ceramics?

Art is the one thing that has been a constant in my life, but when I left school pursuing this was not an option, so I got a job as an apprentice toolmaker/ Development engineer. This was ok for a while; I was making things and enjoyed being skilled. The urge to be creative was still there and I would make metal sculptures during work and I would paint when I got home, I still wanted to be an artist. Eventually I met someone who came to work with us who was doing what I wanted to do, he was studying at the local college after leaving the army. This gave me the motivation to follow my passion, which led me to sell my house, leave my full time job and enrol on a full time foundation course at the age of thirty four.

It was here that I decided to study ceramics as I liked the idea of working in 3D and was able to use colour and texture whilst working in a way that would still require a high level of skill and knowledge. I studied at Cardiff for my degree where I learnt all the basic skills then specialised on the potters wheel. After my degree I set my studio up back home in Hereford and got a job running the ceramic department at Hereford College of Art, which I did for four years. This really pushed my knowledge and skill level further as I was solving the student’s problems. The next three years were spent teaching part time at the Royal National College for the blind where I taught Ceramics and Art and Design. All the time I spent teaching I worked at my own art where eventually the potters wheel became just a tool to be used if I needed a thrown form to combine with my newly developed figurative pieces.

While on first glance your work may appear as traditional figurines from a museum collection, a closer look reveals the contemporary compositions, and the layering of colours, patterns and lustres. Can you tell us more about how you developed your style and the decoration techniques?

When I decided I wanted to explore the human form I found it quite difficult to find a way in; a reason for making. After endlessly looking through my historical sculpture books and countless trips to museums I started to question my ability to actually be an artist. So I decided to come at the problem from a different direction.

I realised most historical art was rendered on buildings such as churches, temples, cathedrals and civic buildings, so I took myself down to our own Cathedral; somewhere I had spent a lot of time as a child. It was how I remembered it and I studied it with a different eye, but still nothing inspired me. I walked back outside disappointed, which is when I encountered the area where the restoration work was being done, and I noticed how one of the stone masons was leaning on one of the stone blocks drinking his coffee. This was the image that was to be the catalyst for a new period of work. The human form, a form of gentle curves juxtaposed with a hard very architectural form got my imagination going. This happened at a similar time to me buying a book on Anthony Gormley’s work. Some of the images blew me away, as I could see similarities of his figures and their settings as to what I had just discovered, and also the reference to classical sculpture which I have always admired.

The figures and forms were resolved, but I was still unsure of how I would finish it. The idea to make the pieces look, what I call ‘very ceramic’, came from my many visits to museum antique collections where I loved walking into a room full of shiny colourful pieces. One problem was I had no money to buy materials, but I dug out what I had at the studio and realised I could make a tin glaze and I had some blue floral decals I was going to use on some porcelain table ware I had developed. From my time spent teaching I developed a very direct way of working and decorating from doing quick demos for students and especially working with the special needs students. The result of this always looked better than if I put maximum effort into the process.

Although I feel I am carrying on the tradition of ceramic figures they are not as refined as what you would imagine when thinking about figurines. I noticed that when gold was used on pieces such as cups and plates it was used quite sparingly so I wanted to put more on in a statement of the piece’s worth. I am open to all decorating materials and techniques so I am experimenting all the time. I'll use slips, oxides, underglazes, glazes, onglazes and lustres to achieve the desired effect. When I empty my kiln and place all the pieces together on a table and I get the same feeling as the one I get when walking into a ceramic collection I know I have achieved the outcome I wanted.

Later different series have appeared where the main theme is still there, but an autobiographical narrative has been introduced, such as in the 'precious’ and 'The pugilists and the swifts' series. I have come to realise I pick up on subject matter that has always interested artists throughout time, which is not something I set out to do. Partly it's the challenge of the making, for example the skulls, which man has always had a fascination with, are one of the most complex forms I have encountered. I hope they are a contemporary version of a traditional theme.

While classical art history is referenced visually in your work, how much inspiration do you take from museum archives when creating new work?

With regards to the museum collections I visit from time to time I usually end up frustrated with the ceramic collections and it has taken a while for me to find out why. This is because when I walk into these rooms I am filled with anticipation about what I will find, but leave disappointed and I have realised that it is the whole collection of colour and shine and the decoration, not the pieces themselves that were seducing me. Figurative sculpture - whether stone, bronze or plaster - always impresses me with the skill level and how one piece may tell a whole story or suggest part of it. I am still trying to find out why I am drawn to traditional sculptural forms, but I'm thinking it may be the challenge of creating something that can be directly judged against the masters that have gone before me. So combining traditional sculpture with ceramic decoration and some personal subject matter results in what I make today.

Can you tell us about the series you are currently working on?

The most recent direction I am starting to follow is actually my versions of iconic sculpture or paintings. I found myself dwelling on certain pieces time and time again trying to think what I could do with them. Realising that some sculptures and themes have been repeated by different artists at different times, and it was ok for me to just do my version of these pieces. I would also like to move them on and play with the original idea to create a new series from one piece.