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Imogen Charleston is a ceramicist and musician. Her primary material is clay and her concerns are environmental. She always felt that art would be her career but following foundation studies she was unsure if she was ready to pursue a career that demanded so much. Instead she became an engineer. She channeled her creative energies into The Paper Cinema, a touring theatre company, combining puppetry, live music and animation, which she co-founded. Ten years later she decided she needed a change of direction and change of career. She decided to travel selecting places that were far away from her home county of Dorset and which had very different cultural vibes. First stop was Japan for nine months, then New Zealand for four months where she visited a working ceramics studio. This was the moment she rediscovered her love of clay, when she felt that “clay chose me”. When she was growing up her grandmother used to bring back clay from her evening classes for Imogen. She still has some of those pieces. Returning to the UK Imogen signed up for an Applied Arts degree at Bournemouth University, a course that particularly appealed to her because she was able to work with ceramics and glass blowing. Working with materials is really important to her. She fi nds working with other ceramicists inspirational and important, for “learning and sharing”, techniques, processes and materials. Since 2022 she has been she has been fi ring regularly with the Oxford Kilns Project at Wytham Woods in Oxfordshire, as well as using Bill Crumbleholme’s kiln at Upwey Potters (DAW Venue 135). From January to March 2026 she did a residency at CODA in Walkford. The main focus of the residency was to build a wood- fi red kiln. She based it on a design by Steve Mills, and “used all reclaimed or second hand bricks - some from old fi replaces, and some from a potter’s soda kiln in Devon”. With her musical background, and inspired by her mother who made small animal shaped ocarinas, one of the things that emerged from her residency was the making of ‘pinch pot’ bird whistles (so called because they are made by pinching the clay between fi nger and thumb). These were facilitated through workshops with local schools and became “a celebration of the joy that can be felt through making and music”. These small objects are a delight, emitting one soaring solitary note. She plans to continue exploring “ideas around musical ceramic objects”. An important element of Charleston’s practice is sustainability, and in pursuit of this she uses clays arising naturally in the ground. She also incorporates locally found materials, bits of detritus discovered on her beach walks, and discarded objects, both at the initial fi ring stage and in glazes. Although she feels that she is currently going down the “brown pot route” she is keen to start incorporating colour into her pots and is speci fi cally looking at ways of making copper carbonate from old copper pipes and using iron fi lings. During her degree she worked with slip cast porcelain making objects from fi shing discard and plastic pollution. However questioning “the perceived value we put on things” she moved to stoneware, wanting “to reduce the environmental impact whilst still being able to explore ideas”. Fiona Robinson VENUE 84 Moon Studio Ceramics, Hawthorn Farm Buildings, Lyndhurst Road, CHRISTCHURCH, BH23 7AB. 10am - 5pm (Closed 26 - 28 May, 1 - 4 June). 07543 165304 / imogencharleston.co.uk. Imogen Charleston POURING BOWLS Imogen also makes functional ware, something that started through necessity when she began making ramen bowls for her own use. With their warm earthy colours and full generous forms, her pouring dishes are perfect for cupping in your hands, gifting an intimacy and sense of connection. She is keen to move more into sculptural forms following a commission for a wall- based piece at the Noisy Lobster, a restaurant at Avon Beach. dorsetartweeks.co.uk DORSET ART WEEKS 2026 • 17 *EVOLVER_149_SB.qxp_Evolver_2025 14/04/2026 20:11 Page 35