Hazel Feeney

My inspiration is the human figure: I am fascinated by exploring the shapes, spaces and curves formed by figures in various poses. All of my ceramics are hand-built and therefore each piece is individual. I can never produce the same shape or the same glaze exactly, and I do not use a potter's wheel. I use matt glazes and therefore most of my work is fired to stoneware temperatures: at these high temperatures the glazes become much more subtle and interesting in colour and, in my opinion, more suitable for the type of form I create. This is also the reason why I turned to bronze: the variations in colour enhance the form and create a more permanent sculpture. My bronzes are created from my biscuit-fired ceramic figures, and only 12 of each design are cast. A fibreglass mould is first produced from the ceramic figure, and the bronzes are then created using the lost-wax method. I use different colours in the final stage to produce variations in the finished sculptures' tones.