Nancy Main
Nancy Main has been passionate about pottery for over twenty-five years. She began with an evening class while teaching in Bristol, an experience that ignited her love of the craft and led her to spend six months at Nelson Community Pottery in New Zealand during her travels.
In 1999 she set up a small studio in Bath, before moving to St Ives in Cornwall to join the prestigious Gaolyard Studios, run by John Bedding, a former apprentice of Bernard Leach. There she made both wheel-thrown and hand-built pieces, which were exhibited across the country.
She stepped away from pottery while raising her children and running a small restaurant with her husband for fifteen years. She returned to making full-time in 2021, and in 2023 was selected as a maker at Contemporary Applied Arts, a significant milestone in her artistic journey. She also teaches pottery and has led a range of workshops, including team-building sessions for groups such as the Nokia design team.
Artist Statement
I use wheel-thrown and altered clay to create undulating forms that invite stillness and reflection. The interplay of light and shadow across each surface evokes a quiet, meditative presence: an acceptance of imperfection, change, and the beauty found in restraint. Through subtle shifts in form and tone, my work offers a gentle space for contemplation and quietude.
Working on a range of scales, my forms reflect a focus on soft, skin-like surfaces - smooth yet imperfect. At times the textures echo the patina of the human form, and at others they reflect its soft, fluid feeling.
My work often flows in series. For example, a recent series of work draws analogies between the natural and the human landscapes. Inspired by Shingle Street, a shifting expanse of shingle near my home in Suffolk, these pieces reflect the strata of stones that form large curved swathes along the coast, enclosing lagoons of water.
Beautiful yet unpredictable, much like life itself, these forms create a precarious yet unique and precious environment that, against all odds, finds an inherent balance and equilibrium.
