Louise Gridley - Sugi Ceramics
Hi, I'm Lou!
I am an East Anglian-based artist and educator working under the brand Sugi Ceramics. The name Sugi derives from the humble Japanese art form of Kintsugi; which, as a philosophy, celebrates repair, imperfection and healing.
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​I love to share my passion for the arts; I teach Visual Arts at a Sixth Form College and tutor public workshops in ceramics and life drawing. As a Community Artist I design and deliver arts outreach projects that engage, inspire and connect young people to their local culture and heritage. My last major commission, funded by Arts Council England, can be seen on the walls of the Apex, Bury St Edmunds.​
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I exhibit regularly with Anglian Potters. Themes of womanhood and observations relating to the female form remain at the core of my work. My painterly, graphic approach to the clay surface references my original training in Painting and Printmaking.
Recent work
​​​​​My hand-built ceramic forms and figurative motifs originate through the drawing process. My work celebrates colour, shape and pattern and exploits the possibilities of form and surface presented by clay as a creative medium. I use a variety of slip-decoration techniques as well as raku and barell-firing processes.
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​My work celebrates the beauty, diversity and empowerment of women. Themes of tribe, acceptance, body image, fashion and identity are explored alongside visual observations of the female nude form.
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​I've been greatly inspired by an amazing trip to Tanzania in 2024 where I took a group of sixth form students to teach Art & Design in a rural school. My sketchbook documents my initial observations and ideas which are then translated through the clay medium.
View my work
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My Studio
Unit 4C, Station Road Industrial Estate, Elmswell, Suffolk, IP30 9HR
Contact
07523 354478