How might one celebrate International Women’s Day? Why not stick it to the patriarchy while simultaneously feasting on feminist chinaware. Ceramicist Pollyanna Johnson runs her cottage studio in the landscapes of Sussex, England, and claims the pastoral, rolling hills of her homeland as her first muse before “her experience of being a woman, and portraits of women from the past” became the focus of her paintbrush. “These women have escaped the walls of the gallery,” she says of her delftware dames, “overcrowded by the male gaze of the painters and paintings that once surrounded them.” Let’s discover the artist making china collecting cool again…
Her work exists at the practical and tangible center of domestic life; they are ultimately tools for what is traditionally women’s work. This makes their subversive content all the more delightful. “Plates are domestic and unassuming objects – the perfect stage for a quiet rebellion against the patriarchy”, says Pollyanna. Look closely and you’ll see tiny “F*CK OFF’s” decorating the verge of some plates in gilded font.
Pollyanna studied painting at Chelsea College of Art and Design and her more naturalist work evolved into portraiture which she embeds within the glaze of delicate chinaware. The works masquerade both as practical pieces holding a subliminal message, and symbolic pieces with great utility, and gently but powerfully challenge the place of women in the art world and beyond. For this, she’ll be on our radar as her business continues to grow and she continues to be recognized for her delicately radical works.
