Ceramic artist Fran Maguire - Marlborough New Zealand
For as long as I can remember, I have been driven by the need to create.
It was early 1993 when I returned home to New Zealand after spending the 1980s and early 1990s in London, New York and France. I now live in Marlborough and became a fulltime potter in 1995 at the age of 35.
Originally making handbuilt sculptural pieces, a passion for the wheel and domesticware quickly developed. My initial interest in domesticware was born somewhere in the realisation that I live in the simple habits and rituals of my ordinary day and wanted to enhance it by using objects I personally connect with.
I decided to spend ten years making domesticware and enjoyed this time as an apprenticeship.
In 2007 I returned to sculptural works and I use both wheel and handbuilding techniques.
I enjoy the fluidity of idea and object, one being the stepping stone for the next.
When making a series of work I usually start with a fairly vague concept. Once my hands connect with the clay, idea and object evolve and the work seems to be pulled through from my subconscious.
There is an earthy connection to a deep old knowing in working with clay which continues to intrigue me.
The objects I make teach me things about myself.
Currently my work has a transitory theme.
My interests are in the universe, ideas about genetics, viruses, fertility, microcosm and macrocosm, repeating patterns and exploring my own personal experiences of being.
I make both domesticware and sculptural pieces.
