Charlotte Middleton

I use traditional ceramic processes and vessel forms to explore the complexities of our relationships with ourselves, our objects, and each other. I create arrangements of objects united by a shared pattern, using the language of the vessel to correspond with our physical bodies. This medium inherently speaks through lips, bellies, and feet. Through this language of form, I communicate specific qualities about people—generous, useful, selfish, open. 

Conceptually, I am drawn to rhopography and the "hidden in plain sight" aspect of everyday life. How do our decisions bond us to each other and to objects? This question drives me to create forms that are useful but not quite as they seem. Thin rims require attentiveness and care, while the glaze's softness and delight are paired with subtle undulations and delicacy. Ornamentation applied to one half of the vessel creates a one-sided atmosphere, like turning over a rock to find another ecosystem..