Artwork Information

In It is hard to believe that there can be anything more than this, 2023 one of a series of new floor-based ceramic installations, Newby composes a unique abstract arrangement from a multitude of small vessels. Into these she uses non-traditional materials to form glazes shaping them with her thumbs and adding – ash, shells, street-born detritus, sometimes leaves, and predominantly small pieces of found glass which form solid pools of colour after they have melted during the firing process. Each individual vessel carries with it a colour and tone informed by the clay and material Newby has pressed into its surface before firing.

The total effect when this group of minute vessels are arranged together is of a delicate floor based abstract painting. The overall pattern is created by clustering like tonalities in a similar palette, with a stunning variation of minerals and pigments.