The ‘Touch Studies’ were born from a longing to collapse the hierarchy between the making process and the final work. In most instances, the clay is worked, coiled, and beaten into a vessel form, over many hours. These studies are purely instinctual, physically generated within 5-15 seconds before considered “enough” or complete. They are beginnings, sensitive explorations, traces of human touch alluding to the softness and tactuality of the clay. Some preserve the makers mark - thumbprints, palmprints - evidence of impetus, whilst others are heavily glazed and buried within the kiln - depictions of the chemical reactions and firing process.

There is a generous inclusivity of the studio processes - touch, tear, squeeze, push, roll, stretch, join, beat, turn. These are all techniques used within the choreography of the making process, between the human body and the clay. I chose to consciously pause in these techniques, to observe and form an acceptance of something that is only half-completed, or even only just beginning. It is a rare occurrence to pause at the beginning of something.