We take a closer look at how Dan creates his striking ceramics.
Dan started working on pots by chance in 2004 when he doodled on a pot from the pound shop with a marker pen. At the time he had filled up thousands of pages for years with a series called ‘Evil n Sick n Need Help’ that was very separate to his paintings. So he started doing ‘Evil n Sick’ ceramics. ‘The beautiful pot with a very dark fucked-up decoration really interested me.’ Dan Baldwin.
To get a pot like one of his paintings was his long term goal and Dan embraced the new paints, glazes, and firing techniques he had to learn. He started off hand-painting factory moulded biscuit pots, getting them glazed and fired, and learning to use ceramic paints. But this was not enough and Dan longed to make the pots more like his painting with more 3D and mixed media elements.
Then one day when Dan was getting some of his pots fired he met Roberto a Sicilian potter and a new partnership was born. Employing Roberto’s technical abilities in clay together they have been able to bring more of Dan’s 3D ideas to the pottery. They have made about 50 moulds as well as moulded 3D objects in clay – brass swallows, guns, hand grenades, hearts, bullets, – and incorporated those into the ceramic design. It starts with a still wet pot, hand thrown, then Dan chooses what he wants to decorate it with and they apply these clay elements, freestyling as they go.
Dan is now producing highly advanced ceramic works with 3D clay casting of objects and working in precious metals, like pure gold.
