1) Bowl on Clay; 2) Bowl on Fist

Colin Self was associated with the British Pop movement in the 1960s but has always taken an experimental approach to artistic media. These two bowls were made in collaboration with the ceramicist Mathies Schwarze in Germany. For Self, the works were partly experimental and partly therapeutic, made to help him recover from the breakdown of his marriage. However, he has always regarded them as works of art, rejecting the notion of ceramics as a separate, specifically craft-based discipline. The works operate on the margins of formal and conceptual sculpture, asking questions about the nature of the material, the processes of making and the literal presence of the artistÂ’s hand in the work.