In Conversation: Inside the mind of Amy Frankie Smith, Flux Surface

Words: Polly

Photos:  Flux Surface

Tell us a little about your creative journey?

Landing a job in industry straight from an arts degree was pretty rare in ceramics, but turned out to be amazing and formative for me. Based in a workshop with a small, young team making architectural ceramics for restoration projects, I handled tonnes of clay and got involved in most of the processes.

One of the biggest jobs we had was remaking the 1m square column for the Bluebird Cafe in Chelsea, London (that had been accidentally knocked over and needed full replacement). I specified the glaze booth and learned how to spray glaze (pictured above), as it was the first glazing project for the company. It was fun and challenging and just fab to be working with clay every day. I loved my colleagues and the job really didn’t feel like work most days. I learnt a lot and mostly that working hands on in a workshop with my material was definitely for me!

You spent 8 weeks in the USA as part of your Winston Churchill Fellowship, how did this opportunity come about and how did the experience influence your work? 

I am so proud and grateful to have been awarded a Winston Churchill Fellowship (@wcmtuk). I was studying my Masters in Historic Environment Conservation with Birmingham University, at Ironbridge, and was deciding what my dissertation should focus on. A wonderful tutor on the course suggested I apply and I just went for it. This opportunity really fine tuned my specialism. I spent 8 weeks visiting key locations, companies and individuals in the USA to learn more about their approaches to architectural ceramics, for conservation vs new build, compared with what we do here in the UK.  This work joined up my practical ceramics work with my architectural interest and was the seed for my long term vision. I’m really excited to work with porcelain in interiors and one day within the fabric of the building, perhaps, to use translucency in architecture to make spaces that are inspirational and beautiful to occupy.

Your designs have a purity and elegance to them, who, or what inspires you? 

Thank you, I try to allow the material speak for itself. The way porcelain diffuses light is so beautiful and lends itself wonderfully to lighting. I am very material led in how I design and work, but I do take inspiration from all sorts of places too!  The forms and the essence of my work is really from the beach outside my studio – the movement of the waves, the smooth surfaces of the pebbles, even the wind and the sound of the sea gets into my studio. Aesthetically I am drawn to quite dynamic and expressive forms, I love huge landscapes. I spent a summer in Wisconsin, USA in my 20’s and the shapes in the fields still resonate with me. I take a lot of photos of motorways and bridges and pylons! The monoliths of our modern world. That’s the sculptural expression in me. Perhaps that’s the engineers in my family, also running through me.

I love architecture, so a few designers and architects and particularly how they work have inspired me. How Louis Sullivan sculpted for architecture was so unique and his vision and passion for what he believed possible is incredible (above Louis Sullivan’s Guaranty Building in NY). I love Zaha Hadid’s aesthetic and specifically her drawings and background work, its beautiful on its own and fascinating how she turns these ideas into buildings.

Porcelain is usually associated with dinnerware, when did you realise it’s translucent qualities would suit lighting? 

I was making more expressive large sculptural pieces in white stoneware when I kind of happened across porcelain clay and was mesmerised by its incredible translucency when lit. I realised that by using porcelain I could carve and sculpt with light. I like being challenged by the material (porcelain is difficult as a clay to work with) I respond to working within the parameters of lighting and light sculpture, but pushing the edges of what can be done with the material, technically.

The more I work with interiors I realise how attractive porcelain’s diffused light is for homes and to live around. I keep the forms simple to allow the natural qualities of the material to shine. (above: Rising Tide – illuminated kitchen installation).

Which do you enjoy most, design stage or making. How long does each part of the process take? 

I’m quite a disciplined person, so I really like the production stages, working to fulfill orders and to produce efficiently is really satisfying (and at times disappointing as porcelain is a challenging clay to work with I expect a level of loss in the firings). I’d say that’s my favourite stage, studio, jeans, radio on and hands in clay, making-to-order for days at a time. And the best bit is producing pieces that will be loved for a lifetime and enjoyed daily. 

But I’m an artist at heart so I keep my sketchbook close and love the raw creative early stages bit. It’s a bit scary too, that unknown beginning bit where an idea could go in any direction, which is I guess part of the thrill, trying to find the solution that really ticks. And perhaps why I love porcelain too, as it keeps me on my toes!

Lighting is rather technical so the functionality of the piece ie. how it will sit on the wall or where the power goes etc, is really important. I have learned from experience to progress the aesthetic alongside the technical as the two won’t come together effectively at the end and you end up with a compromised form otherwise. There’s usually a light bulb or two next to my bag of clay and nuts and bolts on my computer desk! People are often surprised that my steel rule and set square are my favourite and most commonly used tools.