Dean Coates
Dean Coates is a former geologist and educator from Bristol. He graduated from Cardiff School of Art and Design with a distinction in MA Ceramics in 2017.
Being a qualified geologist and former manager at a ceramic factory it is the materiality of clay and processes that are central to Dean’s ceramic practice. Pushing, twisting and distorting clay is the start of his investigative questioning of clay’s responses. Resulting forms are assembled to produce sculptures that attempt to capture the movement and behaviour specific to clay. The language is specific to process as well as the clay's characteristics.
Slips and glazes are applied to the sculptures to accentuate the characteristics of ceramic materials, not the traditional perfection of functional ware but embracing what are often referred to as ‘flaws’ in the ceramic field; pinholes, crawling and dripping.
