Pat Southwood

Meet Pat Southwood

Pat uses a beautiful black clay with porcelain slip to make pieces that are hand-thrown or slab-built, with inspiration coming from her many Japanese travels.

After graduation in 1999 she attended a three day workshop with the Hamada Tomo -o, grandson of Shoji Hamada, held in Mashiko, Japan. She returned to Mashiko again and attended workshops by contemporary masters such as Matusaki Ken and Masakasu Kusakabe as well as obtaining an insider’s introduction to both Maskiko, in particular, and Japanese ceramics, in general.

After taking part in a group exhibition in Tokyo and Osaka, Pat was invited to attend the IWCAT residency in 2009. Based in the pottery town of Tokoname, near Nagoya, this six week residency enabled her to soak up yet more ceramic and Japanese culture.

Having visited Japan a dozen times now Pat is constantly intrigued by surface texture and pattern. She has amassed a vast library of photographs for inspiration. Always drawn to Man’s effect on his surrounding landscape, she delights in observations of a culture that integrates nature into everyday life without fuss or affectation. Patterns created by the natural world become stylised within traditional Japanese design and, rather than being considered old and irrelevant, they are constantly repurposed, invigorated, incorporated into contemporary art and design, always evolving yet always highly recognisable.