Deiniol’s ceramic practice explores the dichotomy between rhythm and discord, balance and disorder. Bringing together raw and unrefined materials and incorporating them into the clay, he seeks to find the harmonious point between the rhythmic flow of the potter’s wheel and the disruptive and chaotic inclusions within the modified clay.
Being interested in ‘place’, many of the stone inclusion and materials used are either collected from the hills of his ancestral birthplace of West Wales, or from the surroundings of his current studio in West Yorkshire. These inclusions are mixed into the fabric of the clay whereby the act of throwing becomes a careful balancing act between the modified clay’s tendency to tear and collapse, and the control needed to create the forms.
The use of very fluid glaze coatings are designed to heighten the movement in the work and to counterbalance the splits and cracks that appear as the inclusions distort, melt, and tear the fabric of the work apart. The final act involves an intense wood-firing which enhances the work further by transforming the clay and the glaze surfaces within the turbulent kiln atmosphere.
Deiniol is ultimately interested in creating ceramic forms that push the boundaries of what the material is capable of and deliberately encourages what would commonly be referred to as a fault or an accident. He celebrates these faults and as a consequence aims to challenge the viewer’s perception of what a ceramic form could be.
Deiniol also runs Ceramic Courses at his studio – mainly centered around the pottery wheel, but also some hand-building courses.
