Eleanor Bartleman
"My work has always been informed by myth, legend and fable – its sources are in human spirit, character and relationship."
I spent my childhood in Ayrshire, Scotland, and studied at Glasgow School of Art, completing postgraduate study in Ceramics there in 1979.
Initially ideas were developed from the medieval beast epic of Reynard the Fox in which animals portray human characteristics. For me, using an animal form to express a human persona has become an effective vehicle of communication, both in a narrative and expressive way.
To this extent, my animal figures are not representative of real animals – but of human characters. I like the ambiguity offered by using an animal instead of a human. Using the human female in the work, she is sometimes placed alone, sometimes alongside an animal character. The animal character here could represent a stranger, a lover, a child.
I like to explore themes such as relationships between characters – and relationships of characters with their worlds.
The work is all made from porcelain clay. It is hand modelled, decorated with slips and stains and fired to 1260C. It is finished with lustres and precious metals.
Workshop
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