Double skinned vase

The richness of this work emanates from its dynamic surface. Claude Champy marks the clay intuitively with tools and by hand. [1] The clay is pressed, spliced and smoothed. The form is thrown with a double wall, which can be see through the voids and gives further depth to the surface impressions. Gestural splashes from ladled glaze flow across the body.

The warm pink-brown hues and lustrous glow are a result of wood firing in a one chamber kiln, with salt added to the kiln towards the end of firing. Champy’s work balances control and chance. He says, ‘the idea of using clay and fire for me is to accept in advance that part of the final result escapes me (negative or positive)’. [2]

Additional works by Champy in the Sainsbury Centre Collection (see 50732 and 50733) demonstrate his exceptional understanding of glaze chemistry. Champy lives and works in Plaisir, France, with his wife, the raku ceramicist Nani Champy-Schott, who also features in the Collection (see 50735).

Sim Panaser, August 2020

[1] Demonstration by Claude Champy, 2019, <https://vimeo.com/311228231> [accessed 25/08/20]. [2] Claude Champy quoted in, 8 artistes & la terre, (La Rochegiron: Argile Editions, 2009).