Chris Keenan

Chris Keenan is a potter who was born in 1960 and lives and works in south London and his pieces are in the Victoria and Albert Museum collection, among others. From 1995 to 1997 Chris apprenticed with the well known potter, Edmund de Vaal and the influence of Edmund's work can be seen in the repetition of Chris's work and in the beautiful delicateness of the material. He was taught to throw with Limoges porcelain and it is the only clay with which he has worked. At an early stage in his apprenticeship he used tenmoku and celadon glazes in combination for the first time - largely unaware of their iconic status in the ceramic lexicon.

His pots are about repetition and as he says "One has never been enough." The repetitive nature of his work means that collectors can change the configuration of the pieces, making their own patterns and combinations. He says "From my first clumsy and tentative attempts to throw a cylinder with one pound balls of porcelain, the development and refinement of form through repetition has been a rewarding process of enquiry and exploration. Fortunately, I also find the rhythm inherent to this repetitive process intensely satisfying. My desire for consistency, achieved through careful and considered observation, exists simultaneously alongside the need to re-examine and alter – it is a continuous dialogue."

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