Johanna Okon-Watkins

My biggest pleasure in making art comes from discovering what emerges when hand, mind and materials collaborate without following a detailed plan. This taps into personal memories, thoughts about human interactions and appreciation of the natural world.  

I work with a variety of natural or manmade materials but recently I have been concentrating on clay. My work is sculptural and abstract.  

The pieces submitted to this exhibition are part of a series of ceramic objects that explore how outer surfaces may relate to hidden interiors. An outer skin can be protective, it can mask or even suppress what is underneath. Tensions between visible outside and concealed interior exist in many aspects of our lives; human relationships, social conflicts or phenomena in the natural world.