Meri Wells, artist

I work in a tin shed in a valley.

The small ceramic figures come out of the hedge that I can see from the window. They march past reviving forgotten imagery of childhood stories and our cultural myths. I try to draw them in that first fleeting glimpse. They are best viewed in groups, from the perspective of personal history and the elemental associations with certain places.

The larger, often lifesize, sculptural pieces, are, I believe, a result of disillusionment with how we repeatedly fail to sustain a functional society. So I based these on forms which inhabit a parallel universe and often they are self portraits.

They are made from coiled, grogged clay and soda fired in a wood kiln to stoneware temperatures, using locally sourced slips and ash glazes.