Northern Ice Flow 1999

This lidded jar, called Northern Ice Flow, was made by Carol and Richard Selfridge, though the exact date is unknown. It’s a cool, calm piece, inviting you to slow down and look closely at its surface. The outside of the jar is covered in a network of tiny, irregular shapes. It's as if the glaze cracked as it cooled, leaving a web of white lines against a blue background. The texture looks raised and bumpy, almost like the skin of a reptile. I keep thinking about how process is key here, how the artists would have little control over the final appearance. There must have been a lot of trust involved! There’s a real conversation happening between control and chance, between intention and accident. It reminds me a little of Lucio Fontana and his slashed canvases, where the act of breaking open the surface reveals something new and unexpected. Art is an ongoing dialogue between artists and ideas, isn’t it?