The show invites visitors to experience Harrison’s distinctive philosophy of art through a contemplative and intimate display.

At the heart of the exhibition is Carrel Box (2024), featuring twenty-five cups synonymous with Harrisons’s practise, contained within a wall mounted American black walnut box, a mechanism that elevates the tension between form and function, realised in collaboration with long time collaborator and master wood worker Ben Casson. The work includes porcelain, salt glaze and lustreware pots and invites multiple interpretations: while each cup can be appreciated individually, it is the interplay between the pieces — their interaction as a collective — that reveals the true depth of the work.

Harrison notes, “In composing a collective group of work, the art must win. When each cup in the carrel box is observed individually, the separate pockets can be studied and contemplated in isolation. To consider them as a whole not only offers a different perspective, but creates tension in how they interact with each other. With curation of this type, not every cup can fit the final piece. I love this. It is what we do as humans.”

The exhibition embodies Harrison’s rigorous and deliberate approach to making. His work is a labour of devotion, with each piece crafted in his London studio and fired in his cottage in Wales using locally sourced clay. This meditation on process and material is central to Harrison’s practice, as is his belief in the power of stillness and thought. With Carrel Box, he aims to transport visitors into this space of reflection, inviting them to slow down and engage deeply with the objects on display.

Steve Harrison (b. 1967, Wallsend, UK) is a distinguished British potter based in London and Wales. A graduate of the Royal College of Art (MA in Ceramics, 1993), Harrison’s practice explores the boundaries between functional pottery and fine art, with a focus on slow craftsmanship and the beauty of handmade objects.

Harrison’s work has been showcased in notable solo exhibitions, including Witches and The Loft Pots: Firing, Selection and Contemplation 2000–2019 (Blue Mountain School, London, 2021-22 and 2019), Tea House and Big in Japan (Arts & Science, Tokyo, 2009, 2012, 2014, 2017, 2019), and Cup Board (Globe-trotter, London, 2015). He has also collaborated with institutions such as the Lion Salt Works Trust (2000) and Globe-Trotter (2018).

Harrison has received several accolades throughout his career, including the Queensbury Hunt Tableware Award (1991) and the Acme Malls Award for his contribution to the Ceramics Contemporaries exhibition at the V&A (1996). He was awarded a Craft Council grant to establish his workshop in Enfield and a salt kiln in Wales. Until 2009, Harrison was a visiting lecturer at the University of Manchester, University of Kent, and Camberwell College of the Arts, London.