2019 AWARD WINNER | De Montfort University

Jack Casey

Design Crafts BA Hons | De Montfort University

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1. Tell us about yourself, your work, and your career path so far.

My Name is Jack Casey and I am 23 and from London, for the past 3 years I have been living, studying and making in Leicester. I describe myself as a ceramic designer and maker with my area of specialism being mould making and slip casting. Over my relatively short career as a ceramicist I have designed and made contemporary tableware and more recently wall mounting ceramic art which challenges perceptions of function and usefulness. I started my career in making as a Design and Technology Technician after graduating from 6th form and quickly realised that I wanted to establish my own creative practice, so I applied to study Design Crafts, a multi-disciplinary crafts and design course, which allowed me to experiment with a host of different material disciplines before I settled on ceramics. Since starting university, I have worked with other Leicestershire based ceramicists like Hannah Townsend and Jo Keogh, run a Hey Clay! 2019 Workshop as part of the Crafts Council Festival of Creativity and also had a placement with the Sainsbury's Home Design team at their offices in Coventry.

2. Describe your first encounter with clay?

I hadn't worked with clay at all before starting university in 2016, during my first encounter I made a couple of pinch pot coffee cups and a distinctly heavy and wonky teapot. My Mum has these first few pieces somewhere at our family home, which she loves but I can't stand the sight of.

3. Why did you choose ceramics?

This is an interesting one, initially when I first started playing with clay, we didn't get on at all. I found I just couldn't get it to do what I wanted and that kind of annoyed me, so I decided I was determined to keep practicing with it until the beast was tamed. Now, I love clays malleability and versatility; I feel like there is constantly something new to learn and try which really excites me.

4. Where do you find inspiration? Places, people, objects, music...

I tend to find my inspiration simply looking around me at my environment, which has normally been urban landscapes. Over my time at university I have learned to look a little closer at things; I find myself studying the architectural forms and details around me, photographing and drawing them with collage. I'm particularly interested in modernist and post war architecture, buildings like the Isokon Flats in London, for their striking use of minimalist clean lines and geometric forms.

5. What are the tools of your trade that you can't do without?

The most obvious thing would be my plaster moulds. I make all the moulds for my slip cast work by hand in plaster and this is the real labour of love for me. Beyond that I have a small tin of tools that I just can't be in the workshops without; a little fettling knife which I made from an old hacksaw blade is probably my favourite followed closely by the small letter punches I use for my makers mark and a battered chunk of sponge that for some reason is perfect for almost any job.

6. What is a typical day in the studio like?

Normally I start each day in the studios with a strong coffee, whilst I survey all of my tasks and jobs for the day. I tend to write or make a mental to do list each morning and use that as my guide. Next I probably pay one or two of the technicians at my university a visit to chat and ask questions about something or other, I could not have done without their expertise and support over my time at university and I will miss them dearly when I finally graduate. After that I will spend the rest of the day making a massive mess, either making moulds in plaster or slip casting things up in ceramics. I love process and I usually take great time and care working out the most efficient or effective way of getting all my tasks for the day done. Throughout the day I chat to my workshop pals as I love having other creatives around me and I listen to a lot of music whilst I am working, it really helps my focus on whatever task is at hand.

7. What do the next 12 months have in store for you?

I will be exhibiting at New Designers Week 1 from the 26th to the 30th of June and I'm really excited about that and the opportunities that may arise from it. Other than that I am applying to be an Artist in Residence at my university, De Montfort University, which will provide me with workshop facilities and all kinds of support to help me find my feet and grow my own independent creative practice. Alongside this I will be running mould making and slip casting workshops at The Clay Room in Leicester, with Jo Keogh, a Leicestershire based ceramicist who is brilliant at helping young makers with professional development and finding their feet after university. Finally I am really excited to continue to work with the amazing Hannah Townsend as her Studio Assistant, helping her with making new work for the British Ceramics Biennial in Stoke on Trent.

8. What advice do you have for those currently studying ceramics in further education?

I think the best piece of advice I can give anyone working in ceramics or any other creative discipline is just to do your best and let the best do you. I really stand by this motto, it can be really hard work studying a creative course and often that isn't recognised by our piers studying what might be considered 'academic' courses. So stick with it, get up early, work late and be proud to be doing something different. Also, following on from that, I would say strive to do something different with clay, there are so many more possibilities than just making cups and bowls. I think it's a rite of passage almost for any ceramicist to design and make their own collection of tableware; I did it just like many more people before me have done, but I would encourage ceramics students to take a risk whilst you are at university and try something unfamiliar and different as well. For my final year I decided to leave tableware and conventional functional ceramics behind and experiment and try new things, through which I have learned so much more about clay than I could have ever imagined.