Sam Bakewell on Ceramics, Mental Health, and Materiality

London-based ceramic artist Sam Bakewell (b. 1983) discusses his practice in an interview with Irene Biolchini. A QEST scholarship enabled his MA in Ceramics and Glass at the Royal College of Art (completed 2011). He worked as studio assistant to Edmund de Waal and won the British Ceramics Biennial Award in 2015. He was Ceramics Resident at the Victoria & Albert Museum for 2018–19. His solo show 'Things you take, things you take too far' was held at Corvi-Mora gallery in London. Bakewell began working with clay as a child in Somerset, digging clay from the garden. He rejects the idea that ceramics equals painting, instead embracing all aspects of clay, from traditional craft to conceptual art. His series 'Time for Waste' emerged from a period of low external interest, using compressed clay scraps, polishing dust, and emotional waste. He discusses the role of ceramics in managing mental health, describing how after his MA he experienced a difficult period and began carving hair strands into porcelain, a process that lasted two years. He sees clay as a medium that externalizes subconscious thought, referencing Jungian archetypes like hair, spirals, and folds. Bakewell holds all fields of art in equal regard and aims to slip into the intermediate zone.