Vase c. 20th century

This vase by Geoffrey Wheeler has a beautiful teal glaze and what looks like blobs of lava erupting from its surface. Looking at this piece I immediately think about the artist's hand and the process of making. I find myself wondering about the physicality of the medium, you know? How the clay felt in Wheeler’s hands as he shaped it. I love the tiny cracks in the glaze, like a roadmap of the firing process. And those bright orange and grey specks, they pop out like little surprises, defying the smooth surface. The orange ones in particular make me think of cadmium pigments - they just have that vibe! It’s like he's not just creating a vessel, but also capturing a moment of transformation, of heat and pressure, of something solid becoming something else entirely. For me, it connects to the playful surrealism of someone like Joan Miró, embracing chance and letting the material have its say. It’s a reminder that art is always a conversation, a dialogue between intention and accident.