Sally Dunham’s first real introduction to clay came when she started Sixth Form College in Cambridge and was given a choice in media in which to specialise. As soon as Sally used clay she was hooked. She remembers carving into a block of clay to create her first figure, and her teacher saying to her “The figure is in there you just have to discover it”. This has always stayed with her. When Sally finished her degree at the University of Wolverhampton, she spent two years experimenting with a range of techniques. Towards the end of the second year and the duration of her third, her current style evolved and continues to develop to this day.
Her sculptures are individually handcrafted from clay using a mixture of Earthstone and Porcelain clay. Each sculpture is constructed hollow using no moulds or interior supports, using small slabs of clay pieced together almost like a patchwork quilt. The individual pieces can be seen in the finished sculptures giving them a lively, distinctive finish and tactile surface.
