Sue Lunt - Curator of Decorative Arts - The Walker Art Gallery,
Liverpool

It was at the Bluecoat Display Centre in the heart of Liverpool that I first
came across Emma Rodgers’ extraordinary ceramic pieces. The Bluecoat is a
non-profit making organisation and it is renowned for both displaying and
selling the work of many talented artists and craftspeople in all forms of
medium. Some of the artists are well known, others have been cleverly
spotted by the perceptive Director of the Display Centre, Maureen Bampton.
The first piece of Emma’s work that I spotted was a figure entitled
‘Does my bum look big in this?’ It was of a naked woman, handcrafted in
clay, supposedly in a dressing room and looking into an imaginary mirror.
It was not an attractive figure. Its facial expression and body posture showed
the insecurity and the neurosis of an ageing woman no longer able to pretend
that she was young, and having to face the fact. It was me.
I felt uncomfortable and troubled by the figure; maybe a younger woman
might have not felt the same.
I did, however, want to know a lot more about the maker.
Maureen told me that Emma lived locally and suggested that I should meet
her. As the Ceramic Curator for the National Museums Liverpool, I am
responsible for expanding the 21st century’s ceramic collection. It is part of
the department’s collecting policy to try to purchase locally made craft
pieces. They do have to be of a certain quality, and the maker has to be
comparable with the best ceramic artists of the day. I thought it likely that I
might purchase one of Emma’s figures for the collection.
And so we met. I was totally unprepared for what was to await me, and not
only in Emma’s studio. Firstly, Emma is pretty, vibrant and young. How does
she know what it feels like to be 50 plus? Secondly, I encounted her ceramic
animals. There were running hares, prowling monkeys, and ravens ready to
pounce and all made with great perception. It seems that Emma has worked
in clay since a child, and it is has become part of her existence. She draws
with clay like an artist with a pencil which is sometimes hard, soft, blunt or
sharp. The clay is often stretched to the point were it is about to split and
break. Her work is so powerful and engaging that the viewer has an
immediate response.
Emma seems to understand the essence of the beast. She captures its
inherent nature, particularly where the movement, flexibility and power of an
animal is concerned. Emma believes that animals as a subject, more than the
human form, have a raw energy that allows her to be more expressive with
the muscle structures and the negative space. She rigorously researches the
animals that she portrays, visiting zoos and nature reserves around the
world. To capture the moment and the movement of the animal, Emma uses
photography, film and her drawing skills. Utilising these techniques also
allows her to observe the character that the creature exhibits.
Emma states, “Sketching is particularly important as it provides me with a
greater understanding of the form. The translation of drawn marks provides
ideas that could not flow from photographs. I translate these drawn qualities
into clay choosing appropriate ceramic textures to express the character of
the animal. I endeavour to avoid my work looking over-handled, but I stretch
and tear the clay to accentuate the surface and to recreate the feeling of life
through capturing the energy of the animal and always try to retain that
freshness in the clay surface”. She also examines skeletons, which help her
to determine the bone structure and the overall form of the animal she
wishes to portray. Emma always attempts to concentrate on the strongest
element of a pose.
Some of Emma’s pieces show a distorted form and a contorted shape
sometimes bordering on abstraction, and they are not always solid. She feels
that the parts that are left out help to give the viewer a better experience, as
they have to imagine those missing areas, thus creating a more interactive
creation. According to Emma, “On a visit to the Cairo Museum I found statues
that over the years had corroded to a point that arms, legs, or even parts of
the face were missing. However if the hands, feet or even an ear remained
intact, they were suspended, or fixed in at the original position. Looking at
these pieces, I found that the remaining parts were enough to suggest the
piece in its entirety”. This experience has influenced both Emma’s human
and animal forms. Emma also draws inspiration from other artists, such
as Alberto Giacometti, Lucien Freud and Elizabeth Frink.
I visited Emma with a view to purchasing one of her female figures for the
collection, and although I consider them wonderful it is her animals with
which, I think, she excels. In her studio, sitting on a table, was a female
monkey in a seated position and looking to the left. Seated in between her
legs was her baby that she seemed to be protecting. The baby, as a
separate figure could be moved, and if positioned behind the mother evoked
a different emotion. The mother seemed to be nonchalantly looking out for
her child whilst letting it have the freedom to play. Separate the animals
completely, and the interpretation is different. The mother’s role changes;
she becomes a separate entity and whilst her head position when engaging
with the baby evokes love and concern, separated she looks haughty and
arrogant. The ability of the monkeys to evoke in the viewer so many
different interpretations without being over-sentimental was astonishing.
Emma had seen these Rhesus Macaque monkeys in Bali and Thailand and
been enthralled with the mother and baby interaction. I purchased the
monkeys, with the help of the Friends of the National Museums Liverpool and
through the Bluecoat in 2002. They have recently been on display at the
Lady Lever Art Gallery, and will be shown at the Walker in the near future.
Emma, constantly pushing the boundaries of her work in terms of expression
and the use of materials, is also working in bronze. She finds that clay
cannot now sustain the demands of some of her work in terms of strength.
Her ‘Fighting Hares’ have just two joins which would not be possible in clay,
and the power portrayed in her ‘Bull ’is enhanced by being cast in bronze.
I’m sure that work by Emma, in clay and bronze, will continue to develop
towards abstraction, and I look forward to the Walker’s next purchase.

Sue Lunt
Curator of Decorative Art – Ceramics
The Walker
The National Museums Liverpool
May 31st 2004