Ground originated from an investigation and exploration into the intersections of craft, cooking, and place. Through varying sources of primary and secondary research, I have developed a wide-ranging and articulate body of contextual research that underpins the materiality and practice-based approaches of both disciplines whilst also investigating the theoretical, social, and cultural connections they have with one another.
A key base for my project has been interviews with chefs and makers regarding the collaborative nature of cooking and how the integration of crafts and disciplines can create interwoven objects and dishes. This initial area of research has developed into an influential and ongoing collaboration with the chef, Flo Hiller, and farmer, Katie Rubython.
I have established an innovative practice-based research methodology that has allowed my project to expand across physical objects, public engagement, and an insightful body of site-specific material research. I feel very appreciative for the generous and inspiring collaborations throughout Ground and have discovered that my future specialism in craft will be underpinned by this relationship of varying practices.
I feel that by focussing and reconceptualising an 18th-century bone china recipe, I have been able to fluently extend my practice across contemporary craft whilst relating to current questions surrounding sustainable food production and the importance of locality. My process driven methodology has been grounded in an experimental, thinking through making approach, however, it is throughout this project that I have discovered the importance of narrative to my practice.
My communal meal at Keepers Cottage Organics fluently summarised my project and research. The day was not only a celebration of my ceramics but the sustainable and circular approach both Farmer and Chef have to the environment. The combined act of cooking and eating on-site, from produce that was organically reared in the same fields perfectly reflected the assortment of ceramics that I have made. It displayed the inherent connection between food, object, and place whilst celebrating the abundance of produce from a field in the peak district.
I hope this project will act as a starting point for a whole host of collaborations that further question and depicts the relationship between maker, environment and produce. I want to continue working alongside restaurants and suppliers to create physical work that responds to their articulate and circular approach to working with the environment. I am interested in how I can develop my practice so it is inclusive to a wider audience, potentially working to create a series of public workshops that explore the intersections of making by hand with cooking whilst also enlightening and addressing a wider audience with the importance of locality and circularity.