Before turning his talents to pottery, Graham Ambrose had won numerous awards for his furniture designs. But when the opportunity arose to swap mediums, he was more than ready to change. “As much as I enjoyed working with wood, I always cherished a passion for clay.”
Strongly influenced by the modernist movement, his primary
interest is in creating minimalist forms. He is particularly
known for his mastery of a bold red glaze that complements these
unadorned forms.
His determination to produce aesthetically satisfying pots
drives his ambition to control the ceramic process. However
Graham has learned that, unlike wood, clay takes on an impetuous
life of its own. A master potter once warned him that after
taking meticulous notes and maintaining the most stringent
precautionary regime, all his pots would be transformed by the whim
of the fire gods. To his joy and sometimes his dismay, Graham
has found this to be an absolute truth.
Graham supplies his work to a select group of galleries within
New Zealand and abroad. His works can be found in private
collections in New York, London, Hong Kong, Sweden and
Australia. Naturally, thanks to the vagaries of the fire
gods, each piece will always be unique.