Sam Bakewell

Born in Somerset, Sam Bakewell studied at UWIC Cardiff before completing an MA at the Royal College of Art in 2011. Now based in London, he is a member of Studio Manifold, working predominantly in clay and in a variety of approaches. Sam won the British Ceramic Biennial in 2015.

Clay acts as a conduit between the physical truth of earth matter and bodily experience. It connects with the chthonic portion of the mind; an alien substance caught above ground between dark birthplace and darker home of the dead.

In large volumes the body struggles against the restrictions of volume and weight, which act as a reminder of our anchoring in material existence. Clay suggests its own structural forms — evident when handled in bulk. Through the simple working of mass, weight and material sensibility, certain truths seem uncovered whose transmitting power comes closer to the raw material of perception.

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS:

2018      Jerwood Makers Open, Pier Arts Centre, Stromness, Orkney
2018      Jerwood Makers Open, Devon Guild of Craftsmen, Bovey Tracey, Devon
2017      Jerwood Makers Open, New Brewery Arts, Cirencester
2017      Solo Commission, British Ceramics Biennial, Stoke-on-Trent
2017      Jerwood Makers Open, Jerwood Space, London
2017      Material Earth, Messums Wiltshire, Wiltshire
2016      Group Show, Corvi-Mora, London
2015      Award, British Ceramic Biennial, Stoke-on Trent, UK
2015      Many a Slip, Curated by Alison Britton, Marsden Woo Gallery, London
2012       When I Woke, Curated by Claire Curneen & Lowri Davis, Llantarnam Grange Arts
                Centre, Cwmbran, Wales
2011       Into the Wild, Smiths Row Gallery, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk
2010       Be-Head, Andipa Gallery, London, UK
2010       Out of Practice, Siobhan Davies Studios, London
2009       Award, British Ceramic Biennial, Stoke-on- Trent
2008       Eisteddfod Visual Arts Exhibition, Cardiff
2008       Art Exchange: Arlington Cwmbran, Lee Arts Arlington Virginia, USA
2008       Porcelain – Ritual & Process, DRAWinternational, Caylus, FR
2008       Ten Years On – Fireworks Clay Studios, Leicester City Gallery
2008       Oriel Myrddin, Camarthen, Wales
2007       Porcelain – Ritual & Process, Llantarnam Grange Arts Centre, Cwmbran, Wales
2006       White Spirit, Manufacture Bernardaud, Limoges, France
2006       Prospects – Ten Artists in Clay, National Museum of Wales, Cardiff
2005       Figuring Narratives, Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea