Juliette Purdy

“My work has been inspired by conversations I’ve had with older people and I have tried to capture the character of the individual. I will sometimes sketch as the person talks to me, observing their movements, particularly emotions, as they talk. When an older person reminisces often their face will light up, as the people they remember are briefly brought back to life.”

Juliette Purdy’s appealing and detailed sculptures are largely made of clay, with the additions of paint, fabric, wood and metals. ‘Narrative and quirky’ are the words which she herself uses to describe her pieces and close inspection of them will often be rewarded by suggestions of intriguing life stories and relationships. Her work is unglazed with minimal colour, in order to create the maximum character. Juliette goes to great lengths to capture the qualities and layers of human skin and experience and describes her technique thus: ‘I try not to over-handle the clay, but work quickly stretching and tearing at it to create a fresh, sensitive feel that will hopefully manifest through the clay. As porcelain dries and is compressed it has a mimetic quality that resembles the concertina-like folds of human skin, in particular older skin that can have a fragile, translucent appearance.’

A First Class Honours degree was awarded to Juliette in 2009 from the University of Hertfordshire (BA Hons, Applied Arts) and she also worked in the Ceramics Department at the University for 2 years. Juliette Purdy’s popular sculptures have been exhibited widely in the UK and in other European countries, such as Belgium.

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