Celebrating Edmund De Waal’s Birthday
Edmund de Waal
particular things, 2024
Porcelain, silver, aluminium and glass
38 x 28 x 10 cm
15 x 11 x 4 in.
The New Art Centre wishes Edmund De Waal a very happy 61st birthday, and in celebration commend the wonderful work he has on display here at Roche Court. From delicate porcelain vessels to stoic Kilkenny benches bearing silver and fossils, De Waal's work encompasses a range of materials, methods and intent, yet all bear his quintessential characteristic of memory. When we look at his pieces, it is as though something lies just beneath the surface, a loss, a memory, a song that has been wrapped and shrouded under layers of porcelain, forever caught on the tip of the tongue. It is as though we are lamenting something so dear, yet cannot place what it is we have lost. Engaging and thought provoking, his work has made waves in contemporary art; in 2011 De Waal was made an OBE, and in 2021 was made a CBE for his Services to the Arts.
Edmund de Waal
heimkehr, 2012
32 thrown porcelain vessels in celadon and cream glazes three black lacquer shelves with curved lead lining
Overall: 57 x 80 x 16 cm / 1ft 10 ½ x 2ft 7 ½ x 6 ¼ in.
Each shelf: 17 x 80 x 16 cm / 6 ¾ x 2ft 7 ½ x 6 ¼ in.
Vessel dimensions vary
This piece on display in the Artist House at Roche Court is made up of 32 porcelain vessels, each varying in size and posture and appears abstract in nature, allowing our subjective perceptions to attach. However, the piece name 'Heimkehr', German for 'homecoming', urges our eyes to see it in an alternative light. Like the doors of a dolls house opened for us to peer inside, the three shelves become floors of a home. The interesting and intentional placement of the vessels, some grouped and others solitary, become members of a family, huddled together whilst others remain isolated. The vitrine walls caught in light and shadows create a sense of magic, layers of childhood, and memory that make up the walls of this 'house'. In their glazed faces, these pots indeed become 'vessels' for our own familiar faces, stirring a feeling of longing, nostalgia and returning home.
Edmund de Waal
water, wind, stone, 2023
Kilkenny stone bench with silver inclusion
50 x 105 x 35 cm
19 ¾ x 41 ⅜ x 13 ¾ in.
Edmund de Waal
this place, I, 2024
Kilkenny stone and silver
50.5 x 103 x 33.6 cm
19 ⅞ x 40 ½ x 13 ⅖ in.
Edmund de Waal
this place, II, 2024
Kilkenny stone and silver
50.5 x 108.5 x 35.5 cm
19 ⅞ x 42 ⁷⁄₁₀ x 14 in.
Edmund De Waal was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2021. In 2015 he was awarded the Windham-Campbell Prize for non-fiction by Yale University. He has received honorary doctorates from the University of the Arts London, Nottingham, Sheffield, York and Canterbury Christ Church universities and is an Honorary Fellow of Trinity Hall, Cambridge.
Edmund De Waal's critically acclaimed works, The Hare with Amber Eyes, Letters to Camondo and The White Road can be purchased from Roche Court, via our website or enquire below: