Dylan Bowen: Building Shapes

Dylan Bowen creates dynamic ceramics deeply rooted in the slipware tradition, continually reinventing classic forms through contemporary techniques. About Working within an evolving series of shapes, Bowen throws, handbuilds, and carves clay to establish a foundation for dynamic surface work. Slips are poured, brushed, and trailed in wet, fluid layers, capturing the physical action, spontaneity, and happy accidents of the making process. Building Shapes brings together Bowen’s more abstract forms and larger sculptural pieces, foregrounding his interest in making as a process of learning and discovery. Driven by curiosity about what clay can do, he continually reshapes and tests his forms, following unexpected possibilities as they emerge. The finished object is one outcome of this ongoing material enquiry, each piece offers an opportunity of investigation to push the possibilities of the next form. Before establishing his practice in Oxfordshire, Bowen trained alongside Clive Bowen at Shebbear Pottery and completed his studies at the Camberwell School of Art. His work stands as an energetic interplay between heritage craftsmanship and abstract forms.