Make Hauser & Wirth in Somerset

Katie Spragg: Natural Practice

Make Hauser & Wirth Somerset
​2 December 2023 - 27 January 2024
​Opening Reception: Saturday 2 December 2023, 10 am – 4 pm

Over the course of 2023, Katie Spragg has immersed herself in a multi-site residency, travelling from Braemar in Scotland to Menorca and concluding in Somerset. Throughout this year-long project, the focus of Spragg‘s ceramic practice has been as much about gathering, observation and investigation as producing the finished sculptures for exhibition. Reflecting on her creative process, she considers how her artworks are themselves works in progress, markers in time along the way to the next idea or outcome. The accumulations of the three residency and research trips—plants, pottery fragments, drawings, stones, photographs and the resulting ceramic ‘tests’—have occupied and enriched both her studio and thinking.

Drawing upon the reoccurring themes of care, community and the universality of plants, her experiences have brought new and vivid insight into local ecology and the life of flora. With this knowledge, Spragg has developed a unique and site-specific narrative that incorporates social engagement initiatives and the particularity of peoples’ stories. She has explored planted gardens and natural landscapes, benefiting from many insightful conversations with people working and living with plants across the three locations she has visited. Spragg’s interactions with herbalists, florists, landscapers, local families, school children and carers, combined with her own exploration of plants, have built upon her existing knowledge. These plants, and their stories, are woven into the sculptures she has made, layering new stories, names and uses. Works developed across this period, alongside outcomes made by primary school children and carers through community engagement workshops, will be featured in this exhibition.

To coincide with the opening of the exhibition, Katie Spragg will be in conversation with local herbalist Jane Wallwork from 4 - 5 pm on Saturday 2 December at the artist residency studios in Bruton, Somerset.

Vital Clay

Make Hauser & Wirth Somerset
​2 December 2023 - 27 January 2024
​Opening Reception: Saturday 2 December 2023, 10 am – 4 pm

Featuring Akiko Hirai and Dan Kelly

‘Vital Clay’ celebrates the work of acclaimed ceramicists Akiko Hirai and Dan Kelly, whose practice reveals a physicality of form and fluidity of surface texture, with the intervention of the maker’s hand tempered by the wilfulness of the clay and the alchemy of the kiln. For both artists, vessels act as containers for historical reference and conceptual enquiry. Through the language of clay, they embrace the elements of shape and form with a vigour and originality of vision.

At the heart of Hirai’s practice is the investigation of the moon jar, as she reimagines the traditional Korean form through skilful material manipulation. Hirai continually pushes the boundaries of her material, her jars occupying the liminal space between completion and collapse, which she refers to as ‘the condition of progress, something ambiguous, unsettled and imaginative.’ Studies in balance through imperfection, the texturally rich surface of her jars appear to erupt with movement. For Hirai, everyday experiences and emotions filter into the unconscious mind and are traced across the surface of her vessels. Capturing moments in time, these static forms become inhabitants of human interaction. Her swollen, pregnant poppy pod forms—thrown on the wheel and sculpted by hand—are marked, cracked and pitted, their surface fragility accentuated by the coating of ash on porcelain.

Over many years, Dan Kelly has pared down his forms and simplified the finished surface working mainly with a monochrome palette, allowing a clarity of form. For this exhibition, Kelly will present works that demonstrate an assured material knowledge and intuitive engagement with his medium. His wheel-thrown stoneware pots are manipulated by cutting and reshaping by hand. His works have been influenced by the city environment of London, traces of the human and the manmade, urban architecture, graffiti, road markings and signage. Further inspiration is derived from European and Far Eastern traditional pots, Japanese Bizen and Tamba wares. Working on the wheel encourages an improvisational approach, retaining the soft clay qualities of the freshly thrown form and adding active marks and contrasting details.

About Make Hauser & Wirth
​Make Hauser & Wirth is a dedicated space for contemporary making and the crafted object, committed to showcasing some of the world’s best emerging and established artist-makers. Make is a natural extension of the wider Hauser & Wirth gallery ethos, embracing art, craft, gardens, food and architecture. Since launching in 2018 in Somerset, UK, Make has presented work by over eighty artist-makers and provided valuable insights into material-led processes and the rich narratives of their practices. In addition to presentations in London and Zurich, Make continues its international programme in Southampton, NY.

Works exhibited by Make embrace material truth, provenance, sustainability and the value of emotional engagement with the handmade. In addition to a varied exhibition program, Make has hosted practical workshops, discussions and studio visits to expand learning and engagement with makers and global craft organisations.

About Hauser & Wirth Residencies
​Since 2013, Hauser & Wirth Somerset has supported an immersive artist-in-residence programme, facilitating 44 residencies in total, including 31 individual artists alongside a breadth of learning initiatives and return visits. Residencies are the outcome of Iwan & Manuela Wirth and Marc Payot’s unique approach to fostering new opportunities for artists, both emerging and established, in addition to the gallery’s broader creative community. The location specific residency has no prescribed outcome but instead provides artists, makers, curators and students with time and space for reflection, research and production. This extended period of time allows for a deeper connection with the local community, surrounding landscape and unique history of the area. All participants are encouraged to contribute to a continuous creative hub, including collaborative community events and learning workshops that allow for broader access to their work and wider practice.

Make Hauser & Wirth Somerset
​Stockwell House, 13 High Street
​Bruton, Somerset BA10 0AB

Make opening hours
​Wednesday – Saturday
​10 am – 1 pm & 2 – 4 pm ​
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​^{Copyright and Courtesy Credits:
​All images courtesy the makers and Hauser & Wirth.}

^{Katie Spragg, In the Studio, 2023 Photo: Catharine Garcia}

^{Katie Spragg, 'Beyond Nature', Installation view, 2022. Photo: Dave Watts}

^{Akiko Hirai, The Moon Jar II, 2022 Photo: Dave Watts}

^{Dan Kelly, Vessel, 2022. Photo: Dan Kelly}