A ceramicist puts her own bawdy spin on the folk language of pottery

‘Is it crazy enough?’ ‘Is it stupid enough?’ ‘Is it beautiful enough?’ These are just a few of the prompts the British ceramicist Katrin Moye has taped to the wall in her Nottingham studio. There, she specialises in creating pottery that draws from the rich history of the form, while giving her works their own playful twists. Inspired by her own experience and bawdy sense of humour, she adorns her works with commentary on menopause, frequent references to genitalia and even modern emojis. Some viewers may find these flourishes out of place on such elegantly crafted vessels. However, as Moye explains, she’s not upending a tradition, but simply putting her own spin on pottery’s history as an accessible ‘folk language’ that’s rarely shied away from matters of sex.