Barely There (2) - a ceramic sculpture created from a hand woven metal mesh dipped in ceramic slip and fired at high temperature to create the distortions seen within the sculpture. 

With an almost ethereal quality, the sculptures are both beautiful, beguiling and thought provoking.

A response to the curatorial brief of Black and Gold, Barely There (2) is part of a continuing series of work where Petersen draws our attention, through art, to the fragility of our built environment and the experience of many as they live on the edge of safety in inadequate housing. 

Drawing attention to these issues is a fundamental element of Petersen's work, but in doing so she creates pieces of intricate detail and with the meticulous attention to detail and experimentation that is typical of this emerging and gifted ceramicist. 

A ‘hand woven’ sculpture shaped by the heat of the kiln to bring the viewer inside the built environment. 

Petersen 'builds' the internal structure to her work by weaving a metal fabric which she then dips into ceramic slip - the sculptural distortions created within the kiln as the metal reacts to the intense heat of firing.  

Ruth uses her work to draw attention to the fragility of our constructed world and Night Time Dreams, created for Collect 2025, highlights the inadequacies and inequalities of our current housing system. 

The black crystals and gold leaf are a specific addition to her work for Collect 2025 and reflect her constant experimentation with materials to amplify her story through these beautiful and fragile sculptures. 

A ‘hand woven’ sculpture shaped by the heat of the kiln to bring the viewer inside the built environment. 

To create these delicate sculptures, Petersen weaves a metal ‘fabric’ dipped in a ceramic slip. The sculptural distortions result from the intense heat of firing, so that the pieces are always unique, unexpected and uncomfortable - confronting us with the fragility of our constructed world through sculptures of a rare and delicate beauty. 

Created for Collect 2025, Night Time Dreams is one of an ongoing series of sculptures created by Petersen to highlight the inadequacies and inequalities of our current housing system. 

With the addition of black crystals and gold highlights to meet our curatorial theme of Black and Gold, she extends that conversation to denote the mould that creeps across the surface of inadequate housing, but adds gold to reflect the hope for change. 

A ‘hand woven’ sculpture shaped by the heat of the kiln to bring the viewer inside the built environment. 

Petersen creates these delicate structures by weaving a stainless steel or metal mesh which she then dips into ceramic slip. The sculptural distortions created by the intense heat of firing, create pieces that are at once unexpected, beguiling and uncomfortable - confronting us with the fragility of our constructed world and issues of living on the edge of safety through sculptures with a rare and delicate beauty. 

Created for Collect 2025, ‘All in Vain’ is one of an ongoing series of sculptures created by Petersen to highlight the inadequacies and inequalities of our current housing system. 

With the addition of black crystals and gold highlights to meet our curatorial theme of Black and Gold, she extends that conversation to denote the mould that creeps across the surface of inadequate housing, but adds gold to reflect the hope for change. 

This piece is no longer for sale but, if you would like to commission a similar piece, please enquire below. 

Black figurative sculpture

Reminiscent of stone circles and historic obelisks, this piece reflects Wendy’s fascination with stone and its place in the landscape. The unusual colouring echoes the soft tones which emerge within stone as it reacts to the weathering of  time, the curving mark through the clay an additional focal point to draw the observer into the piece.

The sense of ancient rock and natural erosion that permeates this piece is typical of a Wendy Lawrence sculpture. She applies multiple glazing's to the slabbed and heavily carved clay to amplify the volcanic aesthetic while the addition of copper, titanium and vanadium oxides under and over the glazing's, creates additional colour and focus within the sculpture. 

She applies multiple glazing's to the slabbed and heavily carved clay to amplify the volcanic aesthetic while the addition of copper, titanium and vanadium oxides under and over the glazing's, creates additional colour and focus within the sculpture.