Ceramicist Clare Twomey transforms the gallery into a live studio, where members of the public will work as apprentices on a William Morris-inspired tile panel; an ambitious installation that will bring his ideas to life.

Twomey is planning to create a vast tile panel embellished with Chrysanthemum, one of William Morris’s most compelling and intricate designs. Over 68 days, 68 volunteer apprentices will work on the piece. Every day, a new apprentice will work alongside a skilled master painter, slowly transforming the tiles from one state of beauty to another. Visitors will be able to watch this process slowly unfold.

The exhibition is a response to William Morris’s approach to making. Like the would-be apprentices, Morris learned his skills through practice and concentration. Skills need to be constantly passed on and shared, from one person to another, to retain their vitality. Twomey’s installation will explore how practising a skill can connect us through time and space to other people. As Morris observed, ‘The past is not dead, but living in us.’ You can view a film in which the artist explains the idea behind the exhibition in more detail at the gallery or online.

This exhibition is funded through Art Happens, the Art Fund’s crowd-funding platform, and we would like to thank all funders for their support.