Projects
Recent Projects
The Common Room Facade
Ford Road, Bow, London
Commissioned by Roman Road Trust
In 2021, we were approached by Roman Road Trust and architecture practice Public Works to design and produce a ceramic facade for a purpose-built community space in the heart of Roman Road - The Common Room.
We worked alongside Torange Khonsari of Public Works on the overall design of the facade's ceramic component, which was an integral part of the funding and planning application for the site.
With the help of the Roman Road Trust, we ran a series of public sessions with a group of residents and children from a local school; we established the design approach, key narratives, and colour elements to create a design that inspires curiosity, is visually prominent and is inclusive in its content.
For more information about The Common Room project, please visit the Roman Road Trust website.
Cherry Garden Walk Mosaic
Bermondsey Beach Thames Pathway, London
Commissioned by the Southwark Council
Warwick Landscaping has commissioned us on behalf of the Southwark Council to update the pavement mosaic by Cherry Gardens Walk as a part of the larger redevelopment scheme of this section of the Thames Pathway. Along with the residents, pupils of Riverside Primary School, and enthusiastic mudlarkers of Rotherhithe and Bermondsey, we developed a design that brought together different elements from the area. With the Common Dace and European Smelt featured to represent the fish of the River Thames, and including decorative stamps from found objects on the foreshore.
All the pieces of the mosaic have been made by hand, out of porcelain stained with colour, cut to size, and assembled with the help of volunteers. Our intention was to bring colour and life to this wonderful spot along the Thames Pathway, and we hope the users will enjoy it as much as we did making it.
Leach 100: National Raku Party
MAKE Story Garden, London
To celebrate their centenary, The Leach Pottery partnered with selected organisations and venues to help them host their own Raku firings. The Leach 100 National Raku Party is a series of events facilitated by the Leach Pottery as part of its centenary celebrations with financial support from Arts Council England, the Garfield Weston Foundation, and Cornwall Council.
To find out more about Raku technique watch a short video from the day here.
For more information about National Raku Day and Leach Pottery, please visit their website.
Cornish Dark Honeybee Mural
St Austell, Cornwall
Commissioned by the St Austell Project
The Cornish Bee Mural is our largest commission to date.
A permanent artwork for the Whitegold Ceramic Art Trail, produced by a community of residents, makers and visitors to the china clay country during the Easter of 2019. Instantly recognisable and understood, this new landmark celebrates the wonder of nature and the meaning of working towards a common purpose.
Each tile consists of clay materials sourced from the heart of the china clay country with elements of St Austell life drawn by local residents. These tiled narratives have been assembled together to depict one larger image of a Cornish Dark Honeybee (Apis mellifera mellifera). A native pollinator in Cornwall that has adapted to the climate and thrives on the biodiversity that is essential to our humanity. We think this honeybee is worth celebrating and is an inspiration to us all as we consider the future of our environment, both locally and internationally.
The project ran for two years. The bee went through numerous design iterations, we built a pop-up factory and we drove tiles back and forth from London to Cornwall. We engaged with over 800 members of the public, pressed over 12,000 tiles, brushed 35,000 layers of yellow slip and fired the glazed tiles over 3 months. Each tile was checked for quality and assurance, and we counted and sorted the tiles day and night for two weeks to make sure the drawings and the installed tiles matched perfectly. We’re proud of our achievement as we are a small studio, and we are thankful to so many people for their time and support, in-kind donations and helping hands.
Borrowed Scenery. Art Residency
Gunnersbury Park, London
Commissioned by Gunnersbury Park Museum
In late 2019, Simeon Featherstone was appointed as an Artist-in-Residence by The Gunnersbury Park Museum. The residency aimed to offer collaborative opportunities for the Japanese Community to co-create new public artwork for the Park. The concept of "Borrowed scenery'' refers to one of the first principles of Japanese garden making- capturing the essence of the landscape in its entirety. We curated a programme of free creative workshops in the heart of Gunnersbury Park to rekindle the spirit of the Japanese Garden, which was once a beautiful, historic area of the parkland. We held sessions in raku-fired ceramics, woodworking, traditional poetry and architecture. We have had the great pleasure of working with a very invested group of participants and collaborators.
The project was cancelled in March 2020 due to Museum's financial difficulties caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Museum of the Unknown Hand
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
Commissioned by Craft Potters Association
During Discover Ceramics day at the Ashmolean Museum, we invited visitors and all who enjoys getting their hands dirty to make their very own museum out of clay.
Participants were asked to sculpt a collection of objects that celebrate Museumness, the things that make us return to these institutions again and again. During the course of the day, the museum grew into a collection of intricate pieces, magical creatures and the works of great imagination.
Photography by @ianwallman
Clay sponsored by Potclays
Heritage Shopfronts and Signage Project // Creative Front
St Austell, Cornwall
Commissioned by Cornwall Council
Supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund and the European Development Fund
A scheme to replace existing shop signs and facades in the town of St Austell and develop a new identity through a strategic partnership between the community, local businesses and Cornwall College.
For further information about Creative Front Programme please visit Cornwall Council Website
Gascoigne Living Museum // Craft Laboratory // Open Estate Festival
London Borough of Barking and Dagenham
Joint commission with the Studio 3Arts.
Supported by The Heritage Lottery Fund
For 18 months we ran a heritage-led arts project in Barking and Dagenham to capture and archive the stories of a large high-density housing estate before it was demolished. We set up the Gascoigne Living Museum and ran art activities and workshops that explored material culture and values and developed a paid role for a local heritage officer with accreditation at the end of the project.
We developed training programmes for volunteers to interview residents for the local archives and celebrated the housing estate during the Open House weekend with soundscapes, an exhibition and a lively symposium. This was a huge undertaking in a place of transient and social upheaval and required a sensitivity to an area going through a redevelopment and a fractured community questioning their own values and identity.
For further information about Open Estate project visit the project’s website
Living Wall
St Austell, Cornwall
Community Artwork commissioned by the Whitegold Festival
Further information about The Whitegold Project and Clay town vision can be found here
Projects Archive
The Pavilion Institute (2013)
A temporary installation at the British Ceramic Biennial offering perspectives of the value of skilled labour and decorative china painting in an age of digital reproductions. With the support of Johnson Tiles, the Pavilion took inspiration from Minton Hollins, Wedgwood Memorial Institute and the Burslem China Painters.
Further information about British Ceramic Biennial can be found here
Walking Distance Dorchester (2015)
An art trail for the heart of Dorchester of decorative clocks in various locations to encourage footfall and celebrate the Dorset dialect, as interpreted by local poet William Barnes. The research took an ethnographic approach to ensure local residents had an input on the outcome of the project, including a participatory installation during the Winter Solstice to explore the themes of memory and the passing of time.
Pulped Fiction (2012)
A journey into the heart of Bloomsbury through the lens of those that know it most, the residents and writers who have lived there. A temporary installation for the Bloomsbury Festival displayed stories written by local residents and pulped into paper clay by local schoolchildren.
Funded by the Welcome Trust and Arts Council England
For more information please visit the Festival website
Making Surrey (2011)
A six-month residency in Hurst Green, Surrey to develop craft skills, strengthen community links and support a culture of making for the residents with permanent artworks installed in the train station and temporary exhibition held in the community centre.
Commissioned by Tandridge Trust and Farnham Maltings
Please visit Farnham Maltings website for more information
Market Estate (2010)
Parasite Ceramics were amongst 75 artists and designers who were invited to work alongside residents of soon to be demolished housing estate, in Islington London, transforming the flats left behind, corridors, staircases and building facades and transform the building into a creative celebration, a colourful and rich last memory of the estate. A temporary installation made of a thousand of bone china tags that were cast from net curtains the residents left behind slowly disappeared throughout the day.
Production, Development and Design Commissions
Market Estate Collection
Developed in-house as a response to a project brief Market Estate Collection soon became a best seller and was featured by all major online retailers, independent stores and gallery shops.
Strange & Familiar Collection
The Barbican commissioned these limited edition pieces as a response to their Strange & Familiar Exhibition, curated by Martin Parr.
