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Toby Duncan

Biography

Having spent a rural childhood rooting through soil and silt from rivers, fields and beaches of Norfolk, perhaps it’s inevitable that, after studying Fine Art and making wall-based, mixed-media work for many years, I find myself drawn back to the amorphous qualities of clay, and the elemental alchemy of ceramics. 

Through constant exploration of, and experimentation with, ceramic materials and processes I have developed a number of ever-evolving clay and glaze recipes which, when combined, strongly evoke Nature. 

Richly layered and textured glaze surfaces, on undulating, pocked forms reveal worlds-within-worlds, and reward close scrutiny. 

Each piece appears weathered by, and wrought from, the geological, biological, ‘deep-time’ forces of erosion, growth, effervescence, and decay: Volcanic pumice, organic sponge, rotting wood, termite mounds, corals, clouds, shells, and fossils are brought to mind along with the fondant, unctuous qualities of food. 

The work seems, like coral, to be a simultaneous symbiosis of Animal, Mineral, and Vegetable: Indeed, it can appear to have been recently lifted from a centuries-lost sunken galleon, encrusted with life and eroded by time.

For all our clever Culture and Technology, our base relationship with Nature is a unifying human constant, a longing even. Making work which evokes this might be a necessary and timely reminder of our interdependence. 

Current research sees me unpacking the delicate balance between Land and Water in my home county of Norfolk. Through harvesting cliff clay, beach flint, and marsh reed, along with local stories, the work will serve as a record of Place.