Dixon, S., 2019.

Ceramics, narrative and commemoration

© 2019 Intellect Ltd The Portrait Section. Since graduating from the Royal College of Art in 1986, Stephen Dixon has established a reputation for a provocative and politically charged ceramic practice, using the narrative traditions of ceramics to focus public attention onto issues relating to conflict, inequality and exploitation, ranging from the 2003 Iraq War to the incarceration of prisoners of conscience. His recent research has critically engaged with the centenary of the First World War and its legacy, exploiting the materiality of archival and excavated objects to question the public perception of twentieth-century conflict and its contemporary legacies. This article presents an overview of Dixon's socially driven ceramics practice, describing an evolving methodology, moving out of the studio and into the public domain through site-specific installation and public engagement.