Esther Palmer

Gathering of thrown ceramic sculptures in black stoneware inspired by the Forest of Hallaig

Esther is a London-based ceramic artist who has been working with clay for the past seven years. Her primary focus has been creating forms on the potter's wheel. Throughout her artistic journey, Esther has actively sought opportunities to learn and exchange knowledge in different artistic communities across the world, seeking out diverse perspectives.

After completing an internship with Tasja Pulawaska in Copenhagen, Esther continued to a residency at Laima Ceramics in the Zemgale region of Latvia. Continuing her exploration, Esther undertook a residency at Arquetopia International Foundation in Puebla, Mexico. Currently, Esther is completing her MA degree in Ceramics and Glass at the Royal College of Art in London.

Esther’s practice is currently studio based, where she continues to develop her research and her work. She is open to conversations with galleries and is interested in residencies globally.

Gathering of thrown spiralling ceramic sculptures in black stoneware inspired by the Forest of Hallaig

My practice is deeply rooted in interweaving narratives of landscape and the passage of time. Like countless generations before me, I seek to honour the natural rhythms of body, seasons and earth through the making of ceremonial landmarks. I see the land we walk on as an archive of memories, mythologies, where dialogues between the human and more-than-human realm can occur. Using the potters wheel as a tool for metaphorical excavation and experimentation and healing, I make animistic mineral forms that embody growth and movement, both rooted in the past, whilst aspiring to rise and evolve.

When I make, I try to imagine and manifest possible worlds where humans coexist in symbiosis with nature. This vision of harmonious coexistence and reciprocity fuels my exploration of unconventional senses of time, embracing the cyclicality of nature as an act of resistance to linear, patriarchal capitalist trajectories. By transcending traditional notions of time and embracing unruly temporalities, I take inspiration from the ghosts of the land, I make space ‘uncanny’ following the tenets of magic.

Through my close relationship with the materials I use, I seek to make spaces of contemplation and reflection where people can re-imagine their place within the natural organic world around them.