ISBN 978-0-95718111-3-0
Hardback, 96 pages, 234mm x 156mm
Published: June 2012
Art and science are often portrayed as opposites. However, a combination of the two can be the best of both worlds. Ceramics is the ideal medium for the ‘artistic scientist’, and Roger Cockram is a prime example of the species.
Barnstaple-born, Roger’s formative years saw him drawn to the science of the sea, specialising in Marine Ecology as his degree course at the University of London’s marine laboratory in Portsmouth. Post-graduate research and teaching helped develop further his love for and understanding of marine life.
Turning his back on science and academia, he learned the skills of the studio potter under the guidance of the late Mick Casson and other influential figures at Harrow School of Art, emerging with a sound knowledge of kiln construction, throwing, decorating, modelling, glazing and firing.
In the mid 1980s he began to blend his expertise at the potter’s wheel with his knowledge of the sea to create marine-inspired masterpieces, developing a range of elaborate figurative pots that has won him an international following.
From his Chittlehampton studio in North Devon, he has produced outstanding pieces incorporating lobsters, leaping salmon, frogs, newts and flowers, otters, octopi and even exotic birds and blooms. His most recent work attempts to capture the power of the sea itself, using specially formulated glazes and varied decorating techniques.
