After over 60 years of making pots Mike has decided to hang up his apron and begin a new stage of his journey. His Mike seventh major ceramics exhibition at Goldmark, opened on Saturday 18th May 2024. While the forthcoming exhibition is an exciting event, it’s also tinged with sadness as it marks Mike’s transition into retirement.
Mike Dodd: His Final Firings features Mike at home and in his Glastonbury studio, footage of his exhibition and conversation with Mike Goldmark, and stand-out examples of the pots that he has made over the last 3 years, including waisted and faceted jars, handled bottles, jugs, his well-known ‘expanded’ vase forms, whose geological surfaces have become something of a Dodd signature (an example is now part of the permanent collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum) and his self-titled Dumpy, Tidy, Stanley and Vinny forms.
‘I can think of few potters as thoughtful, sensitive, and committed to their craft as Mike Dodd,’ Mike Goldmark.
A philosophy of honesty, mindfulness and aesthetic integrity has informed Dodd’s career. He is perhaps best known among the ceramics community for his use of, and dedication to, local materials.
‘Clay is vulnerable and innocent,’ he says, ‘and will therefore show us the slightest mark when handled. The potter needs to stand back and respectively learn to allow plasticity to show itself, to be mindfully unfussy. With practice, feeling and respect, vitality can emerge.’
