Sandy Brown (born 1946) is a British ceramics artist who is nationally and internationally known for her works, which range from smaller ceramics to huge public sculptures. Brown is a Fellow of the Craft Potters Association.
Biography
Sandy Brown was born in Tichborne in 1946.[1] Brown travelled to Iran in her youth and was greatly affected by the Jameh Mosque of Isfahan with its distinctive colourful mosaic tiles and polychromic dome.[2] Brown trained in Japan at the Daisei Pottery in Mashiko for four years.[3] In 1988 Brown was appointed by the British Council as an artist in residence in Australia.[4]
Her piece Temple was created for the 2015 Sotheby's exhibition of monumental sculpture, Beyond Limits, at Chatsworth House in Derbyshire.[2]Temple was made by hand and was acclaimed by Construction News as the "largest single piece ceramic sculpture within a 12-month timeframe".[5]Temple is made from 3,017 handmade wall and floor tiles and 2,183 roof tiles.[5]
In June 2022 her work Earth Goddess became the tallest ceramic artwork ever erected in the United Kingdom.[6][7]
Brown described her motivation for creating Earth Goddess as wanting the " ... sculpture to make an impact and I wanted her to be female and making an impact".[6]Earth Goddess stands in a square in the Cornish town of St Austell.[6]
In addition to shows solo Arts-Council funded touring shows in the UK, Brown has had shows in Australia, Germany, Holland, Japan, South Africa and the USA.[8]
Brown's work is included in the collections of the Federation University Australia art collection,[1] the Victoria and Albert Museum[9] and the Winnipeg Art Gallery.[10] Brown's work is also in the collections of the Museum Angewandte Kunst in Frankfurt, Germany and the Icheon World Ceramics Centre in South Korea.[3]
Brown was interviewed by Tom Morris for his book New Wave Clay.[12][13]
Brown's studio and gallery is situated in Appledore in North Devon, in a former glove factory. Brown established her eponymous museum in Appledore in 2014.[3] Her museum displays her large scale pieces.[3]
Brown is noted for her strong use of colour in clay, frequently painting her pieces with spontaneous brushworks.[14] The editor of Keramik magazine, Gabi Dewald, has said that Brown's "catalytic" and "liberating" influence on European ceramics in the 1970s and 1980s cannot be "underestimated".[14]
^Campbell, Kathleen; Heath, Terrence; Hopper, Robin (1997). Contemporary studio ceramics : collection of the Winnipeg Art Gallery. Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery. ISBN9780889151802.