Felicity Aylieff

Felicity Aylieff is an artist of international standing, recognised for her research into large-scale ceramics. Working from her studio in Bath for more than three decades, since 2006 she has developed a collaborative relationship with factories in Jingdezhen, China, the historic ‘porcelain city’, where she makes monumental pots. The surfaces of these pots explore contemporary translations of traditionally used techniques. Her work shows her passion for material and process through its use of colour, pattern and decorative techniques. Inspired by pots in the collection of Oriental ceramics brought together by the 1^st and 2^nd Dukes, the two standing jars at the entrance of the exhibition are a new scale for Felicity. Blue and white Oriental porcelain was amassed on top and underneath cupboards in the Baroque period. The two "garnitures" or groups of pots are a direct reference to the State Bedchamber installations of ceramics on either side of the bed, a convention for display whose first reference is in the 1764 inventory of the collection. Felicity was awarded a Professorship in Ceramics from Bath Spa University in 2000 and has been senior tutor in Ceramics & Glass at the Royal College of Art since 2001, where she was made a fellow in 2008. She has work in international collections including the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and has been the recipient of two major Art Council Awards. Felicity’s work has been represented in the current Duke’s collection since 2006, the most recent acquisition being in 2008. She is represented by Adrian Sassoon.