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Eileen LEWENSTEIN
Dates: 1925-2005
Born in Streatham, London. She was a co-founder of Briglin Pottery in the 1950s but after 1958 worked independently as a studio potter producing a wide range of vessel and sculptural forms in a modernist style. However, she is equally well known as the co-editor of Ceramic Review and as a prolific writer, reviewer and lecturer. She trained at the West of England College of Art, Bristol and Beckenham School of Art where she specialised in painting and then took the ATD at the University of London, Institute of Education (1941-1945). During this time, she took up pottery classes at the Central School of Arts and Crafts. She taught for a year in Derbyshire and continued to take pottery classes. In 1946, she became a partner in the Donald Mills Pottery in London working there for eighteen months. She founded the Briglin Pottery with Brigitta Appleby where she worked in production pottery for twelve years creating work inspired by Scandinavian modernism (1948).
She established a studio in London making individual pieces in stoneware and later porcelain, exploring cylinder forms, and pebble and egg shapes with an interest in natural forms and textures (1958). She explored the sculptural aspects of clay and the work developed increasingly complex structural qualities using a variety of techniques and bodies. The sea, its changing characteristics and found beach objects have provided an on-going source of inspiration for her work. Her methods have included handbuilding, throwing and altering, press moulding and slab building using stoneware and porcelain for delicate pieces. Glazes are muted and matt but texture is also used to great effect. While some of her work remained vessel based, she increasingly inclined towards the purely formal and sculptural with pieces relating and interconnecting. She has also made architectural pieces to commission She was a lecturer at Hornsey College of Art (1960-1969) and was a founder member of the Craftsmen Potters Association and Chairperson of the Council of the CPA (1971-1974). In 1970, she became co-founder and co-editor of Ceramic Review with Emmanuel Cooper; they also co-wrote a book, New Ceramics. She was elected a member of the Council of the International Academy of Ceramics. She moved from London to Brighton in 1976 where she set up a studio. During the 1970s, she took part in a number of International Symposia - Bethune, Czechoslovakia (1970), Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.A. (1973), and Mettlach, West Germany (1974). She was a member of the Crafts Council International Committee from 1982-1984 and lectured abroad on British ceramics. Her work has been exhibited both in Britain and internationally and is included in many public collections |