Tina Vlassopulos

As a rebellious schoolgirl, Tina always knew that she would go to art college as she absented herself from her maths lessons to go to exhibitions. In 1974, she commenced her BA in Ceramics at Bristol Polytechnic with a strong 2D portfolio but hardly any experience of working with clay and she found it challenging. Nevertheless, she was drawn to it because clay was the only material which was so malleable, human, primal, intimate, flexible, fundamental, and could be adapted to suit all personalities.

Tina’s interest in the performing arts is pivotal to her work and she tries to instil a sense of movement and poise in each individual piece while also creating harmony. Her primary concerns are the concept, aesthetics, pushing clay to its limits and the exploration of new forms and ideas.

She likes the immediacy of using clay straight out of the bag and finishing pieces by burnishing, which gives them depth and tonal variation. The rhythmical movements of burnishing combined with the physical control needed to achieve a finished piece, is complemented by the delightfully free technique of hand building, which is full of endless possibilities.