Collection: Cat Santos

Cat graduated from Saint Martins in 1981 and had a printing career for 30 years. About ten years ago she took up ceramics, and found how sympathetic the surface of clay is to taking print. She explores various techniques using slips, oxides and underglazes…and to add to the possibilities, there’s all that variety of clay surfaces to use, from smooth, white porcelain, to deliciously dark, black clay or heavy, textured, grogged clay. 

Unlike printing on paper or fabric, the thrill of ceramics is the transformation of the materials in the kiln. Of course, one gets to predict pretty well how the various materials will interact with each other and the heat, but there are always some surprises, and that’s what she likes; it's as if some other hand has put the final touch to her work.

Her imagery is often about people in spaces, the scale of our environment, and she tries to capture moments of the wonder it is to live on this earth, as she grapples to comprehend all that science is teaching us about ourselves and our world…but not always is such a serious way…in an age-old ceramic tradition, she does like to add some humour to her images!