MARIA WOJDAT

ABOUT

My early creative training and work was in graphic design at a time when the industry was changing from drawing boards to computers. As my work became more computer based I realised I missed using my hands and making things. That realisation led me to ceramics, initially experimenting in a shed in the garden, but later to an MA in ceramic design at Bath Spa University. Since graduating I have exhibited nationally and internationally and now work from my studio near Bath.
Each piece I make is a unique journey encompassing an appreciation of chance and exploring the balance between colour, line and form. Inspired by opposing themes of spontaneity/control, organic/geometric, order/disorder, the forms emerge from a process which examines the relationship between instinctive action and form - intuitive, almost unconsidered movements which allow and encourage the unexpected to develop.

Inspired by mid-century design and the minimal aesthetics of artists such as Carl André, Donald Judd and Richard Serra, she uses line, colour and form in her pieces to explore themes to do with connections and relationships, boundaries and divisions, and differences and likenesses.

Her work as a graphic designer is a major influence - the qualities of material, techniques and even some tools have come with her into working in clay. The precision she learned when creating artwork on a drawing board, combined with the organic nature of clay is the basis of the way she works in the material today. An important part of her process involves painstakingly scraping and sanding the work at various stages to create the clean lines and balanced forms of her pieces. Her ceramic surfaces are matt areas of saturated colour and are inspired by the qualities of the papers she used to specific to printers in her previous career. And paper is often the starting point for new ideas as she often makes card and paper maquettes before moving onto experimenting in clay.

SELECTED ARTWORKS