HAND STITCHED with Clare Unger

Hand-stitching is Clare Unger’s chosen method of mark- making on the surface of her work. She was inspired to begin looking for ways to incorporate stitching into her ceramics practice by a collection of inherited textiles, some of which were made by her mother. The intricately patterned surface of each ceramic piece begins with the creation of a small hand-stitched ‘sampler’. The designs and patterns on each sampler are made using the same simple embroidery stitches found in her inherited fabrics. An embossing process transfers the stitched designs onto clay slabs which are then used to create her signature functional tableware. Clare’s use of the slab building method of construction allows the hand-stitched designs to become an integral part of each piece, deeply embedded within the structure of the form and reminding us of the enduring legacy of connection that exists in traditions which are handed down from one generation to the next.