IAN GARRET

My work explores a cultural fusion and hybrid identity. I have a passion for archeological ceramics and
blend archetypal elements from ancient Europe and India, which reflect my ancestral background, with
the African traditions that form such a strong cultural heritage in my surroundings. This fusion is
presented within the context of contemporary studio ceramics.

I acquired and absorbed many of my working techniques while researching and recording African
ceramics during my academic training. Each vessel is hand-built using the coil and pinch technique,
then finely burnished with agate pebbles. A combination of pit-firing and saggar-firing with woodbark,
cow dung or dried aloe leaves imparts a lustrous black shine or softly varied terracotta colours
to the work.

I am fascinated with the artistic process of pattern making. With the formal elements of impressed line,
textural contrast, positive and negative interplay, and various complex constructions of symmetry,
I strive to create a vocabulary of motifs in a style that can be identified as uniquely my own.
- From Southern Art Exchange, 2008.