In a modern-day world, ceramics have a thousand and one different uses and applications. You might be surprised to learn that ceramics play a significant role in hip replacements, electrical insulation, superconductivity and even space travel. Yet it is our relationship with and use of ceramics on a daily basis that will resonate most with individuals. At home, in work and public spaces, ceramics have an application in all manner of things, including tableware, objets d’art, furniture, lighting, surfaces and decoration.
We will typically define the purpose of an object according to our personal context, perspective and bias. Ceramic pieces are often those we enjoy a relationship with. Favoured ceramic tableware, storage vessels and ornamental objects are just some of the items whose value we have likely considered and are personally invested in. These ceramics are a part of the everyday tools that we find useful in the home. It is not an overstatement to say that ceramics have a significant place in our lives: personally, emotionally, culturally, even historically and traditionally. Ceramics are amongst that cohort of wares likely to be passed through the generations, and people’s use of ceramic as a versatile material is centuries-old.
In ceramics, you will find designs that are simple and complex, affordable and expensive, utilitarian and elegant. A compact, hard, durable and non-porous material, ceramic forms the basis of many designs that will add character and charm to an interior.
Gerard is a writer, a thinker and a modern-day gentleman living in a modish neighbourhood in south Belfast. Walnut Grey Design is his popular manifesto of good design. From Gerard’s discerning perspective, design should be aesthetic, smart, honest and gratifying. Moreover, it must be for keeps.
A self-confessed urbanite, Gerard is enthralled b[...]
