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. Caroline Gray was selected to take part in a residency at Grymsdyke Farm in Buckinghamshire. She will then present her new work at our 2025 Biennial.
We asked Caroline some questions about her experience during her Fresh Talent residency and the impact on her artistic practice.
About Caroline Gray
After a short introductory course in ceramics in 2018 clay became her material of choice. Her abstract sculptural installations are born out of a fascination with human interaction, and creating conversations between objects using colour, shadow and form.
Altered paper patterns or templates are central to her process. Using a free-hand slab-building technique she alters, splices and rejoins clay pieces. These create unexpected curves and angles, making each form unique. Likewise, her installations come together spontaneously as each element finds its place.
Briefly talk about your practice
My sculptures and installations are born out of a fascination with human interaction and psychological landscapes. My background is in design, installation and also playwriting, which informs my practice, creating spatial conversations through colour, shadow and form.
I am interested in the emergence of a form through making. The method and process I use determine the outcome of a piece. I want the shapes that I make to surprise me. In my slab-built pieces, I use a free-hand technique where I intuitively alter, splice and rejoin the clay pieces. This produces unexpected curves and angles, giving each form a particular attitude and personality. I enhance these attitudes with the colours I use. Until now, I have worked exclusively with terra sigillata, a superfine clay slip. This means that the colour is integral to the form and not layered on top as a glaze would be. Part of my attraction to using Parian during my residency is that it holds colour in a similar way.
What were your expectations before starting your residency?
I first became aware of Grymsdyke Farm through their collaboration with Fels World in 2023 – The Farm Shop. I was fascinated by the unique approach to experimentation with materials and hands on making that is the Grymsdyke ethos so I was very excited to be awarded the Residency there. In planning how I would use the residency I specifically chose to take myself out of my comfort zone – my usual and finely honed way of making – and throw my self into the ethos of Grymsdyke Farm by working with a material – Parian- that I had always been fascinated by but had yet to explore.
What has been the impact on your practice and what surprised you the most?
Because Parian has completely different ways of behaving, handling and forming I was forced to abandon my previous processes. This allowed me to free up my practice and make in ways I had not done before, abandoning my instinct for perfection and trying out new aesthetics. Having the space and time to fully immerse myself has had a huge impact on my practice. I have developed a new language to work alongside my existing one, something which I would not have been able to do within the confines of my shared studio in London.
Was there any significant collaboration with another artist or organisation?
Grymsdyke Farm is truly a unique place for thinking and experimenting. The workshops are crammed to the gills with the results of previous artists/designers experiments, outcomes, successes and failures and a real freedom of thinking permeates the place.
Whilst there was no specific collaboration organised while I was at Grymsdyke there were various workshops taking place. I was able to interact with students and tutors from Oxford Brookes, imperial College and the RCA which led to fascinating conversations and the sharing of ideas.
What are you most excited to take forward in your practice?
Going forward I am going to continue working with Parian, particularly with the slip-casting ideas I explored. I feel like I have added a new visual language to my practice which is very exciting.