Barry Stedman’s intention is to use the vessel forms that he makes as vehicles through which he explores contrasts of light and shade, hard and soft, warm and cool, rough and smooth. He is interested in the way edges meet and overlap, and the rhythms, tensions and harmonies created between colours, spaces, lines and textures in form and surface. These vessels are loosely thrown and altered on the wheel or constructed from slabs.
Stedman tends to work in series influenced by natural phenomena, places, and emotions, developing ideas from drawing, painting and previous firings. He enjoys the warmth and brightness of earthenware, using slip, oxides and underglazes over a red clay body. The surfaces are created in layers, firing in between applications of thin washes, which are then wiped back and building up rich zones of colour. He then glazes certain areas. This process gives depth, tone and texture to the piece.
