As part of our Fresh Talent programme, four artists were chosen to undertake a residency from a group of 25 that were part of our Fresh exhibition at the 2023 Biennial. Andrea Leigh was selected by a group of year-7 students from Thistley Hough Academy to take part in a residency at the BCB Studio in Stoke-on-Trent. She will then present her new work at our 2025 Biennial.
Andrea has reflected on her time in Stoke-on-Trent and at the BCB Studio and tells us about her experience during the residency and the impact on her artistic practice.
About Andrea Leigh
Andrea lives and works in Derbyshire. She combines traditional with experimental ceramic techniques. Drawing, sculpture, and 3D printing from photographs are incorporated into her practice.
Andrea Leigh began her creative career in fashion and surface pattern design. This background brings a love of drawing, texture, and detail to her ceramic practice. Her style is expressive and experimental, working with diverse forms and clays. She uses hand-building and slip-casting techniques and includes ash and found objects in her work. Andrea began researching renewable materials, like food and gardening waste in 2022.
Since 2014 she has worked with learning disabled adults. She mentored artists and now works with a self-advocacy group. This experience encourages her to look for a more inclusive and multi-sensory approach.
Briefly talk about your practice
Over the past two years my ceramic practice has reflected world events relating to conflict, waste, resilience and hope. The story of Warsaw residents who mapped and rebuilt the bombed Old Town inspired themes in my work. In Mosul, UNESCO supported the use of traditional skills in the rebuilding of places with inherent beauty and meaning. I’m fascinated by this potential to inspire communities to work together.
My approach to ceramics is experimental, I use waste and found objects in the glazes and sculptural elements of my work. I’m interested intechniques and glazes that are considered to be faults. My ceramics carries a narrative and sense of jeopardy by exploiting the fragile and expressive qualities of the materials. I hope my work resonates with other people.
What were your expectations before starting the residency?
When I applied for the residency, I felt the work of the BCB Studio related closely to my values and interests. I hoped to fit into the BCB community, and that this opportunity would give me more impetus going forward. I was eager to have a block of time set aside for making, testing and research without the usual distractions of work and home.
Initial ideas for the residency were around resilience and hope. In the months before, I produced sketches relating to the destruction of historic and significant buildings emerging from the rubble as references. My work is often resolved quite late in the process as I work through a narrative. I often experiment with materials and surfaces before I start to build a finished piece. By the end of the residency, I hoped to be open to influences from the people and place and to draw all these threads together to apply to new ceramics.
What was your experience in the BCB Studio and what impact did it have on your practice?
On location, I felt a welcomed part of the BCB studio. Talking to the staff, members and associate artists as they brought work in after completing projects in the community was a highlight for me. It was inspiring to see how ceramics was being used as a starting point for positive experiences with so many diverse groups. There was a real buzz about the Studio in the first week as it was still being set up. The start of my residency coincided with an open studio event. This gave me a fantastic opportunity to speak to and learn about other artists on the Spode site and around Stoke.
The space set aside for the resident artist was in the large window facing Church Street. Initially the idea of being overlooked so publicly filled me with dread. Surprisingly, I soon grew to enjoy watching the diversity of life in Stoke pass by the window. Sometimes I would get a cheery wave, or a small face pressed against the glass watching me work. The tile panels and floor painting at Spode Gates by Jaz Simpson were a constant joy. It created a stream of photo opportunities and occasional conversations with visitors; I loved seeing the impact it was having on passers-by.
The studio facilities allowed me to switch between slip casting, mould making and glaze testing during the day. It was novel for me to have so much space, it enabled me to make the most of the timings between casting and drying. Firings came late in the residency as I was using a single firing schedule rather than the regular bisque and glaze. I wanted to make enough work to fill the kiln to be more energy efficient.
What surprised you the most?
The Spode site is fascinating. Some buildings are derelict, and others already transformed into a restaurant or arts spaces. The worn bricks, flaking paint and rusting ironwork on the site gave me a rich source of inspiration for the surfaces I am trying to create. The value and hope tied up in these ruined places was definitely evident at Spode.
Was there a significant connection with another artist or organisation?
Sometimes I had quiet days alone in the studio. Thursdays were a time when the BCB Studio members came and went throughout the afternoon. There was a friendly inclusive atmosphere, cups of tea and chats about what we were doing. A conversation with one member revealed a link between the themes in my work around ruins and resilience and their view of the Spode site. Every place has its own ruin with hope and imagination tied up in it.
Being in Stoke gave me the opportunity to reconnect with Phoenix Tile Studio who had been great mentors during my MA. At the interim show I caught up with MA Ceramics students at Staffordshire University. I met Meysam Nasernezhad, a student and ceramic business owner from Iran. His work at the show highlighted the inevitable changes in cultural references and appealed to my interest in the use of pattern in architecture as part of our heritage.
What are you most excited to take forward in your practice?
The knowledge I gained through glaze and techniques testing offers a huge advantage with the work I want to take forward. I was able to work through ideas for distressed surfaces and investigate new ones that I am excited to pursue.
Pattern used in architecture as a reference to cultural identity has come to the forefront during the residency. This theme has a lot of potential to take into a more commercial direction. I’m also intrigued by the testing with fragile forms. Layering slips and glazes has thrown up some interesting areas for further research. The creation of fragile but resilient structures is something I would like to continue to experiment with. I’m excited to start applying the new palette of textures and glazes to work for the 2025 British Ceramics Biennial.