Dean Coates

Dean’s practice sits between painting and ceramics. Taking the concept of the ceramic studio test tile, (a traditional small clay tile used to test glazes), he makes sculptural slabs of clay creating an expansive surface onto which he applies multiple layers of glazes, slips, oxides, studio waste, rocks, and sand. The pieces are fired in the kiln where the materials interact creating unpredictable and unexpected results. The process can be repeated several times enriching the surface with colour, texture and form until there is what he refers to as an intuitive resolution in the work.

He sees his work as metaphors of geological processes where rocks and minerals are subjected to heat and chemical changes. The kiln and materials play an important role in the physicality of final pieces. It is the continuous investigation of studio materials and their alchemical interactions that is the driver in his work.

Dean Coates holds a BSc in Geology and a MA Ceramics from Cardiff Metropolitan University. He lives and works in Bristol in the UK.