Joanna CONSTANTINIDIS

View in collection Born in York, she made delicate vessel forms with rich surface effects, which increasingly took on a sculptural aspect. She trained at Sheffield College of Art where she took pottery (1945-1949) going on to set up a studio at Great Baddow in Essex (1950). From 1951, she taught at the Chelmsford School of Art where she worked full-time, making her own pots at weekends. She was a dedicated teacher in further education until she retired in 1989. The historical influences on her work were medieval pottery, Staffordshire slipware, saltglaze and industrial pottery. She experimented with form, by abstracting and extending it while retaining the concept of the vessel. Many pieces are asymmetrical, tilting or leaning with rounded or sharply defined bases. She used drawing as a basis for developing ideas. Her work reflects a modernist approach emphasising clarity of form and linear purity. She used stoneware and 'T' Material and occasionally, porcelain. Forms were thrown on the wheel, shaped, moulded, cut, and altered by hand. The surface of the clay was burnished and fired at 1300 degrees in saggars filled with grain which combusts around the pot to create rich surface effects. Some pots have lustre glazes. She used copper, iron and tin. She also made exquisite porcelain tableware, glazed in matt white and cream. She considered her retrospective touring exhibition Ceramics from Twenty Five Years, organised with the Ballantyne Collection and University of Derby, the best representation of her work in her lifetime. She was a member of the Craft Potters Association, the Crafts Council shop, and held a one-person exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 2000.

Details

• Dates: (1927-2000)