CCQ, Article – A Creative Conversation, Issue 15

2018, pp.148-155

Article: An Archive of Longing, Dr. Natasha Mayo ‘in conversation’ with Zoe Preece

Ceramicist Zoe Preece’s recent exhibition, Material Presence: A Domestic Scene, explored the unnoticed gaps and voids of domestic life: temporary absences; things left behind; the indentations of family life. A conversation for the opening event, devised by Natasha Mayo, explored Preece’s early encounters with clay, her technical expertise and the roots of her fascination with the lacunae that punctuate our daily lives. 

There is a particular quality of silence in an empty room, especially a family home, when the door slams loudly and voices dissipate along the street. It’s as if the air exhales, released from its constant disruption, constant churning by children running up the stairs and through doorways. For a moment, its given a reprieve to settle into the spaces left behind left behind into the nest of a curled up blanket, into the half drunk cup of coffee cup. In such moments, the air can be so palpable, weighted, that if you were to reach out toward an empty chair, you might feel resistance from the memory of its occupant pushing back.