Inner Journeys…

Speaking of her exhibition, Anna Smyth says;

"One of the greatest gifts of being alive is that of life itself; we are life containers.

This exhibition is a celebration of the life within each of us, utilising a range of beautiful crystalline glazes, in which crystals have formed during an arduous firing.

Each glaze began its journey in the spring of 2020, just as our world was shaken and changed.

Lockdown ‘gave me permission’ to invest time in laboriously testing each glaze, with numerous firing schedules; I was completely absorbed in the process, blocking out the backdrop of negativity surrounding us all.

My enthusiasm and tenacity were rewarded as the glazes developed, filling each vessel with unique, spontaneous beauty. Each had its own difficult journey, harnessed into an admirable outcome.

The forms also changed, each carved to suggest fluidity and movement, relationship with each other, belonging together.

I saw the parallel with ourselves.

Each of us unique, complex, navigating our journey through challenge and difficulty, potentially growing in strength and beauty on the inside.

This exhibition documents the journey of the glazes, and uses titles for each group to suggest the parallels with us….."