Anthony Shaw volunteer Lisa Grabowski talks about artist Ewen Henderson

The First Law of Thermodynamics states that Energy can be transferred and transformed, but it cannot be created or destroyed. Proof of which lies in the work of Ewen Henderson (1934-2000). The transference of energy from creator to creation is undeniable, the excitement and passion of the creative process has been locked up and now emits vibrantly from the ceramic. From the earth, Henderson has created life.

Henderson described his work as the ‘alchemy of change’ and indeed, there is a magnetism to these pieces, a witchcraft, drawing you in under their spell, leaving you enchanted. His work fills not only the space of their physical being, but have an aura that radiates into the atmosphere surrounding them.

Driven by nature, his early works of dishes and pots set the tone for his later abstractionism. Marbled glazes and silky finishes recall tumbled stones or shells, polished by the sea and combed from the beach, tactile treasures to bring home. His later monolithic forms are reminiscent of harsher terrain, windswept mountains, the earth’s crust ready to tremor and erupt. Craggy fissures break the patch-worked surface, oxides and stains yielding earthy hues.

Henderson layered different clays together like strata. He patchworked and morphed these into epic landscapes with the finesse of a painter. The works transcend time. Recalling the past, the process of creation is visible yet there is a potential encapsulated that leaves us questioning the cyclical nature of life. Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Though he has sadly passed this earth, through his work, Henderson’s presence remains.