There is a raw power to the work of Sarah Purvey; a directness. Her ceramic vessels and pain@ngs on canvas or paper are not separate elements that are 'worked on' intellectually; rather, they are immediate expressions of her percep@ons and feelings in a moment. In the same way that the wall of a vessel creates both an interior and exterior space, so her work represents a mee@ng point between the exterior perspec@ve of the spectator and the interior emo@ons of the ar@st. She and her work are thus totally conjoined: each piece stands as a diary of unfiltered feelings, produced through a stream of consciousness.
Ashley Thorpe, Forms of Expression, Crowood Press 2023
My studio is a quiet space, free from the disturbance or influence of music, or voices on the radio. Time here is used to connect and to respond. The studio is an inImate space that leaves me nowhere to hide, a space that draws out and exposes the emoIonal connecIons I find here and allows the visceral language of drawing to speak for me. It is the responsive acIon and energy of drawing that leads my pracIce, a process that becomes both physically and emoIonally charged. The sculptural vessel has long served as an extension of my drawing pracIce, capturing the flow of energy and dialogue in each form. This new body of work conInues that very personal exploraIon between drawing and ceramics. Flow represents, in essence, a three-dimensional sketchbook of responses and connecIons discovered and interrogated throughout the making process. The external surface of each large scale vessel is explored through the language of mark making, with each new drawing carrying something forward from the last. The internal structure of each vessel lays bare the rhythm of the build, defining the meditaIve process of construcIng a canvas for drawing with clay.