In 2012 we held our third exhibition of pots by wood firer Svend Bayer, featuring over 200 exceptional new ceramic works.
Svend Bayer is widely regarded as one of the world’s finest potters. Over the previous 2 years Bayer had been putting aside the very finest of his pots for this show and we were overwhelmed with how perfectly proportioned each pot was as we unpacked them for the exhibition.
Each subtle pressure of palm, finger or thumb is transmitted immediately to the clay. Every angle of force, each leg brace, bow of the back, lift of the arm, results in a direct transmission of ideas, experience and skill from thought, through body, to pot. A poem is a product of mind. A pot is a product of everything that makes a potter. At their most elevated, each vessel embodies a direct representation of experience, contemplation, physical skill, co-ordination and character. As they leave the wheel these are supremely personal objects.
Tim Gent from the Svend Bayer monograph 2012