In her work with White Grogged Stoneware 157-4230 and Athena Porcelain Paperclay 164-ATHE, Jemma Gowland explores the way that girls are constrained from birth to conform to an appearance and code of behaviour to present a perfect face and maintain the expectations of others. The disrupted surfaces describe the vulnerability beneath.
Jemma first trained for a BSc in Engineering product Design and worked in the fields of industrial design, production and architectural model making before becoming a teacher of Design and Technology. With experience in making and using a very broad range of materials for a wide range of purposes, ceramics became an abiding interest with its unique versatility and surface possibilities.
Jemma Gowland has studied ceramic skills and specialisms on a number of courses, before completing the Ceramic Diploma at City Lit, as well as life sculpture and figurative studies. Being a mother and daughter as well as a woman working in a male field, has led to an examination of the role of the female and how societal norms still shape the way children are raised.
Jemma won the Potclays Student Award at Art in Clay Hatfield in 2019. Her stand at Art in Clay Windsor in 2021 was funded by Potclays.
Jemma's work can be purchased from Bevere Gallery and Watson Gallery.
