The audio file for this article was produced by the Ceramic Arts Network staff and not read by the author.
Incorporating Color
Bright, bold, blazing colors and shapes are the language of acclaimed ceramic artist Lubna Chowdhary, who brings together influences from the East and West in her work. Known for her unique, visually pleasing, precisely cut geometric small tiles, she also produces larger sculptures and installations. Her work incorporates architecture, craft, design, painting, and sculpture. She fires and re-fires endlessly in her top-loading electric kiln, only stopping when satisfied with the vibrancy of color.
Color is a major part of this Tanzanian-born ceramic artist’s life, in stark contrast to many of her more staid, typically white, male contemporaries, which she finds tedious and unadventurous. The tradition of earthy-colored ceramics stemming back to Bernard Leach, the father of British studio pottery, is at odds with Chowdhary’s approach. As a result, in the early days, she felt that she simply didn’t fit in, but credits seeing the anthropological collections at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) and Pitt Rivers Museum as a turning point.
A confident colorist, her use of color is more instinctive than scientific. Sometimes a project will call for it to be used in a subdued but controlled manner. The key to success for Chowdhary is to incorporate contrasting colors. She observes that when they’re placed next to each other and there’s a relationship between them, colors look different.
Determining the Approach
Taking pride in humble materials and creating unassuming objects forms her approach to making—this was the advice she received from her tutor at the Royal College of Art (RCA), Sir Eduardo Paolozzi CBE RA, a Scottish artist known for his sculpture and graphic works. Each piece is painstakingly created in her studio—a striking glass structure at the end of her London garden. Designed by architect David Adjaye, the studio is lined with works in progress. Once she has made an object in clay, Chowdhary then spends time composing its color and form.
Fear of empty space (horror vacui) plays its part, too. This ethos, associated with the visual traditions of the East, is embraced by Chowdhary, who also draws on the economy of Western modernism. Patterns and shapes like circles and squares play a prominent part, too.
Embracing technology in her practice, she designs tiles in Adobe Illustrator. One minute, she might use a basic electric wheel, progressing to a computer-operated cutting machine the next. The project determines the approach. When producing a sculpture, Chowdhary will make it through handbuilding, using various forms. Improvisation is a joy for her, and she relishes the accidental results and details generated.
Heritage and Experience
Growing up in a traditional Indian household, her family relocated to Rochdale, Greater Manchester, and then to north London. In 1988, she traveled to India, and two years later, while studying for her master’s in ceramics at the RCA, she revisited the country thanks to a scholarship awarded by Sir Eduardo Paolozzi. This visit raised questions about her heritage and identity in her work.
On leaving school, Chowdhary enrolled in a 3D-design degree at Manchester Polytechnic, specializing in wood, metal, and ceramics, with the intention of becoming a furniture maker. Ceramics was a compulsory material in the course. Initially, she wasn’t interested in studying ceramics because it was considered a crafty, feminine pursuit—the sort of pursuit she was trying to escape and distance herself from. Much as she tried to resist, she was seduced by the immediacy of clay.
She has collaborated with architects on commissions in the public and private spheres, among them the installation of glazed pictorial tiles, Interstice, in the entrance lobby of the recently redeveloped 100 Liverpool Street building, and a rhythmic ceramic design for the foyer of the Standard Hotel, both in London. Metropolis, her 1000-piece exploration of architectural forms, which took twenty years to produce, was shortlisted for the Jerwood Ceramics Prize in 2001. The finished version was installed in the Asian and European Ceramics Gallery of the V&A in 2017 and is now in the permanent collection of the Jameel Arts Centre in Dubai. In 2021, she was shortlisted for the annual Freelands Foundation Award. “Erratics” was shown at Peer Gallery in London in 2021.
Chowdhary has completed artist residencies at Camden Arts Centre and at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Her work, which is held in public and private collections in the UK and worldwide, has been shown in various exhibitions including at Pilar Corrias Gallery, London; Marlborough Gallery, London; Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi; and Islamic Arts Biennale, Jeddah in 2023. She is represented by Jhaveri Contemporary, Mumbai.
the author British journalist Tim Saunders writes about art and ceramics. When he has time, he enjoys painting and making.
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The audio file for this article was produced by the Ceramic Arts Network staff and not read by the author.
Incorporating Color
Bright, bold, blazing colors and shapes are the language of acclaimed ceramic artist Lubna Chowdhary, who brings together influences from the East and West in her work. Known for her unique, visually pleasing, precisely cut geometric small tiles, she also produces larger sculptures and installations. Her work incorporates architecture, craft, design, painting, and sculpture. She fires and re-fires endlessly in her top-loading electric kiln, only stopping when satisfied with the vibrancy of color.
Color is a major part of this Tanzanian-born ceramic artist’s life, in stark contrast to many of her more staid, typically white, male contemporaries, which she finds tedious and unadventurous. The tradition of earthy-colored ceramics stemming back to Bernard Leach, the father of British studio pottery, is at odds with Chowdhary’s approach. As a result, in the early days, she felt that she simply didn’t fit in, but credits seeing the anthropological collections at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) and Pitt Rivers Museum as a turning point.
A confident colorist, her use of color is more instinctive than scientific. Sometimes a project will call for it to be used in a subdued but controlled manner. The key to success for Chowdhary is to incorporate contrasting colors. She observes that when they’re placed next to each other and there’s a relationship between them, colors look different.
Determining the Approach
Taking pride in humble materials and creating unassuming objects forms her approach to making—this was the advice she received from her tutor at the Royal College of Art (RCA), Sir Eduardo Paolozzi CBE RA, a Scottish artist known for his sculpture and graphic works. Each piece is painstakingly created in her studio—a striking glass structure at the end of her London garden. Designed by architect David Adjaye, the studio is lined with works in progress. Once she has made an object in clay, Chowdhary then spends time composing its color and form.
Fear of empty space (horror vacui) plays its part, too. This ethos, associated with the visual traditions of the East, is embraced by Chowdhary, who also draws on the economy of Western modernism. Patterns and shapes like circles and squares play a prominent part, too.
Embracing technology in her practice, she designs tiles in Adobe Illustrator. One minute, she might use a basic electric wheel, progressing to a computer-operated cutting machine the next. The project determines the approach. When producing a sculpture, Chowdhary will make it through handbuilding, using various forms. Improvisation is a joy for her, and she relishes the accidental results and details generated.
Heritage and Experience
Growing up in a traditional Indian household, her family relocated to Rochdale, Greater Manchester, and then to north London. In 1988, she traveled to India, and two years later, while studying for her master’s in ceramics at the RCA, she revisited the country thanks to a scholarship awarded by Sir Eduardo Paolozzi. This visit raised questions about her heritage and identity in her work.
On leaving school, Chowdhary enrolled in a 3D-design degree at Manchester Polytechnic, specializing in wood, metal, and ceramics, with the intention of becoming a furniture maker. Ceramics was a compulsory material in the course. Initially, she wasn’t interested in studying ceramics because it was considered a crafty, feminine pursuit—the sort of pursuit she was trying to escape and distance herself from. Much as she tried to resist, she was seduced by the immediacy of clay.
She has collaborated with architects on commissions in the public and private spheres, among them the installation of glazed pictorial tiles, Interstice, in the entrance lobby of the recently redeveloped 100 Liverpool Street building, and a rhythmic ceramic design for the foyer of the Standard Hotel, both in London. Metropolis, her 1000-piece exploration of architectural forms, which took twenty years to produce, was shortlisted for the Jerwood Ceramics Prize in 2001. The finished version was installed in the Asian and European Ceramics Gallery of the V&A in 2017 and is now in the permanent collection of the Jameel Arts Centre in Dubai. In 2021, she was shortlisted for the annual Freelands Foundation Award. “Erratics” was shown at Peer Gallery in London in 2021.
Chowdhary has completed artist residencies at Camden Arts Centre and at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Her work, which is held in public and private collections in the UK and worldwide, has been shown in various exhibitions including at Pilar Corrias Gallery, London; Marlborough Gallery, London; Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi; and Islamic Arts Biennale, Jeddah in 2023. She is represented by Jhaveri Contemporary, Mumbai.
the author British journalist Tim Saunders writes about art and ceramics. When he has time, he enjoys painting and making.
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