
Material Matters with Grant Gibson
In Material Matters, host Grant Gibson talks to a designer, maker, artist, architect, engineer, or scientist about a material or technique with which they’re intrinsically linked and discovers how it changed their lives and careers.
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Material Matters is produced and published by Delizia Media Ltd.
Material Matters with Grant Gibson
Edmund de Waal on porcelain.
Edmund de Waal is that rarest of creatures, a potter who has broken out of the crafts world into the fine art market. He also happens to be a best-selling author of books such as The Hare with Amber Eyes and The White Road as well as a lucid and thoughtful speaker and curator. His work has been shown around the world in places such as the RA, Cambridge’s Fitzwilliam Museum, the V&A and the Ateneo Veneto in Venice. His first set design featured in the 2017/18 Season at the Royal Opera House for Yugen, a new ballet by choreographer Wayne McGregor.
In this episode we talk about a childhood he has described as ‘odd’ (the Pope and Princess Diana both came around the house but not at the same time apparently), the relationship between making and writing, dealing with critics, and why some pots are ‘needy’. The thread running through it all is his love of the white stuff – in his case, porcelain.
You can find out more about Edmund’s work here: edmunddewaal.com