Ceramic artist, David Seeger
...h the imaginative, both in the choice of subject matter and use of materials and colour.”# I feel, before indulging in the examination of Seeger’s ceramics, it is worthwhile and necessary to first briefly look into his series of ‘Moving Still’ paintings which were produced for his 2003 solo exhibition at the Alliance Francaise Gallery, as previously mentioned. This will give an insight into Seeger’s creative psyche and will form the foundations of understanding with regards to his ceramic vessels and sculptures. ‘MOVING STILL’  “Compared to the deliberate and methodical discipline of the ceramic craft, there is a different time scale and immediacy painting in oil. Unconscious impulses are easier to hold on to. The title of a recent exhibition was ‘Moving Still’. In this show he presented images exploring the many meanings suggested by these two words; photos 9, 10 and 11 are of three paintings to be looked at bearing that theme in mind.”# The image above, ‘Orpheus’, is photo 10 the quote refers to. The other two photos referred to in the quote are shown on the following page. I find these paintings have a beautiful simplicity to them, an almost a child-like quality. The circular images present in the paintings are reflected in the ‘Black Hole’ series, which will be examined in the next section of the essay. Another quality of these paintings I admire, which is present in ‘Moving Blue’ and ‘Colour Field’, is at first glance the colours are clearly strong, bold and crisp, but also seem pure. At a closer look the varying tones and shades of the blues and greens give the paintings a much deeper and expansive feel to them. In ‘Colour Field’ the only colours that seem to be pure and solid are those within the circles and ovals. Those and the strong, solid yellow circle in ‘Orpheus’ are echoed in various jars in the ‘Black Hole’ series, by form more so than colouring. The purpose of including these paintings in the main body of this unit of work is to illustrate the mirrored forms and also to show Seeger’s strengths in colour and tone, which in the ‘Black Hole’ series, play a significant role.   By looking at other paintings by Seeger, one can see that the circular and oval shapes present in the above works are often repeated and echoed and seem to have a strong presence in a lot of scenes, along with other geometric forms, such as rectangles and squares, these shapes are also present in the vessels of the ‘Black Hole’ series. THE ‘BLACK HOLE’ SERIES “…by metaphorically cutting open the spherical form of the conventional vessel, he breaks the boundary between inside and outside. In the "Black Hole" series of jars he draws attention to the dark interior within the rim of the pot, by depicting other "holes" elsewhere on the surface.”#   It was this series of work that, in a way, convinced me to use Seeger as the “ceramic artist I admire”. The ceramic vessels in this series are in my opinion, amazing. I absolutely love the shapes, the smoothness and the strong vibrant colours contrasting with the dull greys and blacks. They hold the simplicity of decoration that exists in Seeger’s paintings. It was actually ‘Jar No.7’, shown on the next page, that first grabbed my attention. The black ‘holes’ set against the pale lilac, one element that is reminiscent of the background in ‘Orpheus‘, provides a very strong image which I find has a very positive impact. Another aspect of this piece that I find both interesting and aesthetically pleasing is the pale green circle. With the various shades of blue and green ‘scores’ on this section of the vessel it gives an almost textured appearance.  Seeger uses stoneware clay and within the ‘Black Hole’ series, the vessels are approximately between 14cm and 17cm high. He hand builds each of the pieces and all his materials required, the clay itself, the pigment and the ingredients for the glazes, are all dug from the earth.   The photos on the previous page show ‘Jar No.14’, the shapes painted onto this vessel contrast the shape the vessel itself. The distorted prism-like image that follows on from the hole that can been seen in the right hand photo almost appears to gives the piece a new dimension. Looking at these vessels, the holes carved into the tops of them become less and less of a focus or of an importance with every photo I look at, with the painted ‘holes’ they lose their unique quality and the status of being a part of the sculptural form, they begin to blend into the painted images.  Seeger produced several pieces that were influenced by water, especially looking at waves. The photo above shows the combination of themes, influences and inspiration. The colours in the two twists simplify the varying shades and tones of blues and greens that can be seen in water, more accurately, at shore lines where waves roll and crash into rocks and onto sandy beaches dragging the contents of the water with it in a twisting and chaotic manner. ONE-OFF CERAMIC PIECES “My one-off ceramic pieces are well known for their rich colours and exciting imagery. For many years I have explored the interplay of surface and space that can be created by using reflective mirror lustres, transparent high gloss or opaque silk -smooth areas of colour.”# The pieces I will be looking at in this section have been created from various influences and inspirations, such as faces, nature and music and waves and water imagery.   These pieces are very striking. The actual form of both the pieces are usual and give out a feeling of randomness. The contrast between the silver surface and the brightly painted faces are what makes these pieces so fascinating. Their chaotic construction is reflected in the painting techniques and methods that can been seen in the photo to the left, yet they are contrasted strongly with the orderly images of the faces in the photo to the right. However, the ‘random’ colouring eases this difference that I feel would have been too harsh if the painting had of followed the more orderly lines and drawing of the faces. These pieces show a completely different side to Seeger’s creative ability and interests.   The piece above is again created from looking at faces. The drawing style is similar to that in ‘Reflected Faces’, although the painting style is very different being much more ordered. The clay form and base are reminiscent of ‘Black Hole Wave’ and also of ‘Wave’, which is shown on the following page.   The clay flows like water and wa...