Claudette Forbes is an award winning ceramicist.

She was born and raised in inner city Bristol, England, to Jamaican parents.  As a teenager, the race riots in her neighbourhood in 1980 made a lasting impression on her.  Her curiosity about the government's attempts to fix things inspired her first career in local area regeneration. These same experiences now inspire her art.

Now based in Peckham, London, she gathers her ideas by observing scenes and people in her neighbourhood.  Her work is provocative, playful and humorous.  She aims to test interpretations of contemporary themes, whilst producing tangible objects that contain a certain beauty and references a past.

The fashion and fast food branded cows, with their M-logo legs, were inspired by a visit to family in Jamaica where, in Montego Bay, the first MacDonald’s had opened.  In a neighbouring field stood a solitary cow,, a juxtaposition which carried a certain comedic undertone. The process of making this collection informed Claudette’s conceptual development, leading her to think about our consumption of the cow and its environmental impact. 

The seated cow’s base is modelled directly from a real cow’s tongue, purchased from a local butcher. 

The ceramic milk bottles are adorned with Claudette’s illustrations – a contemporary interpretation on the traditional Willow Pattern - depicting scenes and people in her neighbourhood.

She brings her musical skills to create soundscapes to accompany her ceramic installations. These inspire and enhance her conceptual development and her making. 

Process 

Claudette uses the full palette of ceramic techniques, emphasising surface decoration with mono-print slip transfers, digital decals and metallic lustres.  She also experiments with the addition of non-ceramic materials.