Isatu Hyde, a first-time exhibitor to the Leach Pottery, trained in the studio pottery tradition with Andrew Crouch in Ludlow, Shropshire. Working mainly on the potter’s wheel with a range of clays, glazes and firing temperatures, Isatu makes functional work that is rooted in use. Her inspiration draws heavily on pre-industrial craft from around the world, with her biggest love being neolithic pottery which embraces function, beauty, ritual and play, whilst retaining a level of minimalism.

This exhibition features a mixture of especially-made pieces: from day-to-day tableware and cookware to individual pots. In this work, Isatu says: “I am interested in finding visual balance and elegance in the tension between strength and relaxation. I aim to make pots that are quiet but have poise and presence.” Isatu currently works with stoneware and earthenware clay bodies, firing in electric and gas kilns. This year she has established a new workshop in rural Herefordshire, where she will continue making pots that are informed by use and that harmonise with her environment.

After completing a degree in Sustainable Product Design at Falmouth University – during which she was, for a time, a weekly studio assistant to Jack Doherty at the Leach Pottery – Isatu was apprenticed to Andrew Crouch at The Marches Pottery. Isatu’s training centred on oil-fired reduction stoneware influenced by Chinese and Medieval European pottery. Her interest and experience in all of these themes have informed her work as she develops her skills as a potter, gradually forging a personal aesthetic that seeks to offer a rich but gentle addition to our natural environment.

After three years of apprenticeship in 2017, Isatu moved to London for a year’s studio residency at The Committee of Taste café in Gladstone Park. She returned to Ludlow and set up her own workshop where she developed skills in reduction gas firing and micaceous clay to make cookware.

The exhibition runs in the Leach Pottery Entrance Gallery.
All works for sale.