Hannah Burgess (Ceramicist and Marketing at YVAN)
Introducing YVAN’s Team Artist Spotlights. YVAN is run by a small staff team of three, each working with the organisation one day a week while continuing their own artistic practices. This series offers a glimpse into the varied work they create alongside their roles at YVAN.
Hannah Burgess is Leeds-based with a background in arts and cultural organisations and works on marketing and communications here at YVAN one day a week. She is also a ceramicist, stocking in shops and galleries across the UK, as well as doing regular markets.
“I make my own glazes as I am drawn to iron-rich, earthy tones that feel natural and reflect the land in some way, as well as experimenting with oxide mark-making and decoration.”
Can you tell us a bit about your practice as a visual artist?
I create functional wheel-thrown pottery inspired by traditional Japanese form and technique, ‘the beauty of everyday use’ or yo-no-bi in Japanese. I make my own glazes as I am drawn to iron-rich, earthy tones that feel natural and reflect the land in some way, as well as experimenting with oxide mark-making and decoration.
Could you tell us about your role at YVAN and any other work you do, alongside your practice?
I work on the marketing and communications for YVAN one day a week and ceramics the rest of my time. I enjoy all the design work, especially when it comes to bigger publications we share, like the survey report and annual report- I love delving into those big design jobs and keeping up to date with the wider visual arts sector through projects we run.
From your time at YVAN, what project stands out for you as a highlight?
I would say the UNBOUND artist development programme and working closely with Beam to support the project’s success. I interviewed a lot of the artist cohort involved and it was great to hear about how the project had already impacted them and where it was going to take them. Just like when we do our annual report, it’s always nice to be able to reflect on where we support and impact artists in the region.
Why do you create?
I create to bring ideas into form, finding nourishment in the making process and sustaining an ancient craft. I always initially make a rough sketch of what I want to make and the fact that this ‘thought’, after being thrown, turned, fired, glazed and fired again, becomes something that will be held and used by someone for years to come, brings a lot of motivation to me. Doing pottery as my main income stream means I need do a lot of wholesale orders, but alongside this I try to find time in the month to experiment and develop my skills - the freedom of the material is why I love working with clay and I need to remind myself of this a lot when I’m deep in orders!
Do you consider yourself to be part of an artist network/community, and how does this impact your own practice?
I am part of a ‘permanent’ East Street Arts studio in Leeds with several other potters in my unit and also other visual artists down the corridor, so it’s great to be surrounded by other makers and artists creating interesting things. However, it’s a shame that we recently heard from ESA we have 2 months to leave this building as ceramicists. The precarity of being a working artist is real and how we’ve been treated is quite jarring. I hope to find a new studio and network soon but it’s tricky in this artform. I feel part of a community of artists through doing lots of regular markets as well. Being part of a network is intrinsic to my inspiration, as opposed to working purely in isolation.
“I create to bring ideas into form, finding nourishment in the making process and sustaining an ancient craft.”
What changes would you like to see in the wider arts sector?
The most glaringly obvious one for me personally is studio affordability. Now I’m being kicked out of the only affordable studio in Leeds for ceramics, I’m more aware than ever of how expensive studios are. Most artist studios being advertised are at what you’d expect larger businesses could only afford rather than sole artist/traders, which just serves to create an artistic output that’s based on exclusivity and privilege.
What are your future aspirations as a visual artist and have you got anything coming up you’d like to share?
I would like to work on creating a body of work for an exhibition and have some ideas about where I want to go with this. Also, after doing their Ceramics Market last month, I now stock at The Hepworth Wakefield, which is really exciting as it’s my first gallery stockist.