Frances Priest :: Chevron | Stripe | Asanoha

The Chevron / Stripe / Asanoha Collection collages together Frances Priest’s favourite motifs drawn from varied sources, heraldry, modernism and Japanese pattern design. Priest enjoys this process of sampling and collage, giving a new twist to familiar motifs and creating unexpected relationships. The painterly surfaces are created through a rich colour pallet of coral and ochre, contrasted against soft greys and dense blacks. Priest especially enjoyed playing with the surface finish, placing matt vitreous slip next to glossy glaze, to create a glint and sparkle as the works catch the light. Hand-drawn enamel transfers create an additional layer of mark-making which becomes apparent on closer inspection. 

The collection has been made to work as a whole, offering up the possibility of different compositions and relationships between the group, but each piece can also stand-alone or as part of a pair or trio. The simple shapes of the collection reference vase and drum forms that feel both sculptural and domestic. The concave top of each work encourages the viewer to touch and explore the surface patterns.

View the exhibition online here

Frances Priest is a pattern obsessive and lover of colour, making work that explores cultural histories and narratives associated with ornamental motifs and patterns.

Trained in ceramics at Edinburgh College of Art, over the past 20 years she has developed a studio ceramic practice with work acquired by private collectors internationally and UK public collections including, The National Museum of Scotland, The Fitzwilliam Museum, and The Victoria & Albert Museum. Since 2018.