FRANCES PRIEST

Dominique Corlett speaks to the ceramic artist about the language of pattern, and tiles as public art

- Dominique Corlett

Stars, chevrons, stripes, interlocking circles, spirals, fish scales and herringbone: the patterns that adorn Frances Priest's colourful ceramics, which are held in numerous collections (including the V&A, the National Museum of Scotland, and The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge), are a glossary of the language of ornamentation. And while the pieces she makes - sculptural bowls and vases, as well as tiles look strikingly contemporary with their colliding patchworks of patterns and bright colourways, the motifs also call to mind decorations seen on Art Deco tiled fire surrounds, or even Iznik pottery from 16th-century Turkey.

The familiarity of this decorative language is no coincidence. A self-confessed 'pattern obsessive,' Frances describes her work as 'utilising the narratives and cultural histories of ornamental motif.' This is a subject that has fascinated her since childhood when she was given a copy of the influential Victorian pattern book, The Grammar of Ornament by Owen Jones, first published in 1856. This important reference work meticulously recorded decorative motifs from around the globe and not only had a huge impact on Victorian design, but is still widely used today. 

To Frances, it was also 'a beautiful folio of gorgeous lithographic printed pages of pattern that I just fell in love with.'