The transformative power of ceramics

The Foundling Museum

15 November 2024 - 1 June 2025

The Foundling Museum tells the story of the Foundling Hospital, established in 1739 as a place of refuge and shelter for abandoned children. Supported by the artist William Hogarth and the composer George Frederic Handel, the hospital pioneered the connection between the arts and philanthropy. Today, the museum focuses on the themes of care, empathy, and social welfare in its curatorial programme. Following this tradition, the latest exhibition Self-Made: Reshaping Identities takes as its starting point the transformative qualities of clay, exploring how ceramic artists have used the medium to evoke empathy, affect and emotions. Weaving together connections from the past and present, the group show conveys the versatility of ceramics and how it has been used to construct and deconstruct identities.

Four artists – Phoebe Collings-James, Rachel Kneebone, Matt Smith, and Renee So – present an array of clay forms, including stoneware, terracotta, porcelain, and parian. Their work reflects a parallelism between the plasticity of clay and the ever-evolving nature of personal experiences and collective identities. As the introductory text explains, ‘just as clay transforms in response to external influences, our identities are shaped by a complex interplay of genetic, environmental, and social factors, constantly adapting to different circumstances and learning to perceive ourselves in new ways’.

Phoebe Collings-James’s ceramic piece, Late or now of Jamaica, takes its name from a token left at the Foundling Hospital in 1757 and explores identity through the lens of marginalised communities. Through richly layered clay textures, depicting hands, marks and fissures, her work embodies and reveals the painful emotions of loss and separation experienced by Foundlings and their mothers. It also considers issues of social inequality, power and wealth, by critically addressing the problems of 18th-century philanthropy, where charitable efforts for vulnerable children were often intertwined with colonial exploitation and poverty.

The exhibition is staged in a ground floor gallery of the museum. The walls are painted in a warm combination of white and orange, with the artists’ works displayed throughout the space – some hanging on the walls, while others taking sculptural forms on bases placed across the floor. These artworks engage with various histories, fostering a dialogue between contemporary experiences and the affective histories housed within the Foundling Hospital.

Rachel Kneebone presents a series of delicate porcelain sculptures in her familiar style, intertwining organic shapes, undulating ribbons, and ornamented frameworks. These pieces evoke the cartouche motifs found around the Foundling Museum's interior architecture, as well as the scraps of fabric often used as identifying tokens for children (infinitely poignant items left by their mothers to help identify their children if they were later reclaimed). The sculptures reveal imperfections, fissures, and cracks which create a sense of the uncanny and disturbing, resonating with the historical narratives they refer to. Additionally, they appear to capture a process of transformation, rather than merely representing a finished product, suggesting a state of continual evolution or dissolution.

Matt Smith is known for challenging historical narratives through ceramics that uncover forgotten or hidden stories, often from a queer perspective. Here, he presents works from his Family Romance series, which consists of commemorative serving plates recounting overlooked queer histories – tales of love, desire, and sexuality often suppressed by normative society and conventional family structures. Through these pieces, Smith invites viewers to forge emotional connections with the past while celebrating queerness, diversity, and the power of self-expression, ultimately reshaping both personal and collective histories.

Renee So presents a series of female figurines crafted from stoneware, earthenware, and terracotta, which embody an earthy, ritualistic quality reminiscent of ancient civilizations. Drawing inspiration from fertility idols and Venus figurines, her sculptures depict women as functional vessels – some lacking agency, while others assert independence, celebrating empowerment and freedom. So's work addresses themes of fertility, spirituality, motherhood, and gender inequalities in the representation of women throughout art history, evoking feelings of resilience and feminine power. She draws upon ancient cultures that span from prehistoric Europe, Africa and Mesoamerica to ancient Egypt, Assyria and China to create hybrid figures that speak about identity in contemporary society.

At the heart of the exhibition lies an exploration of identity, care, and belonging. Self-Made: Reshaping Identities connects viewers with past histories and past experiences. Through the diverse artistic voices presented, the exhibition invites viewers to reconsider their own identities, connect – through affect, empathy and care – with the past, and reshape their relationships with it.

Dr Paula Zambrano, Curator of Programmes

Self-made: reshaping identities

Foundling Museum
40 Brunswick Square
London
WC1N 1AZ