Jo Wood

After studying ceramics for several years at Hornsby TAFE and exploring many different techniques of working with clay, Jo found that hand building was the method that afforded her most enjoyment. She has developed a highly unusual way of working that tests the plasticity of clay to its limit. Her method involves pleating the clay, pinching, folding and pressing her thumbs into each piece. The Southern Ice Porcelain she uses is very white and highly translucent and perfect to emphasise the textural shadows created by the pleating and folding. Sometimes she adds extra texture by stamping old wooden batik blocks or corrugated cardboard into the clay before folding. Jo uses this method to create table lamps, bowls and bottles, sometimes using manganese around the rim on on the body of a vessel. The work varies in size from small bowls to large spherical lamps. The extreme thinness of the clay means that the forms alter in the firing process, each achieving a unique shape. While the work may look fragile it has been fired to a high temperature and thus has an unexpected strength combined with a wonderful translucency.