Nature of work: sculptural (some smaller pieces such as chawan and yunomi also potentially functional); highly-textured; ‘painterly’ quality of surfaces
Making method/s: slab-building, handbuilding. To create the characteristic complex surfaces of his work, Curtis frequently uses porcelain slip, and his so-called “texture pastes” formulated in conjunction with Valentines Clays, applied over the slip and heated with blowtorch to create dramatic cracks and fissures.
Firing method: wood-firing

Left: this photo of mine, taken at the Potfest event in Compton Verney, Warwickshire, in July 2021, typifies the immense range of Curtis’ forms: an immense slap-built vessel painted with what looks to be black iron oxide, and what looks to be a scarlet stain layered over porcelain slip; a porcelain teabowl with whorls of texture paste adding a texture reminiscent of rocks or sand; and multiple sculptural forms featuring dramatically textured clay that recall strata of rocks, as in a cliff face.
Below: detail of a large warped, sculptural vessel; i wanted to capture how striking the fissured black surface - reminiscent of black volcanic rock - looked against the rusted Corten steel plinth Curtis displayed it on.