ACCLAIMED ceramic artist Patricia Volk is exhibiting her work at Swindon’s Oink Gallery this summer.

Since opening in September 2016, Oink, on Victoria Road, has brought lots of exciting new artists from around the UK, Europe and the United States to the Old Town gallery space.

Patricia, who was born in Belfast, has exhibited her work nationally and internationally, at venues including the Buekenholf-Phoenix Gallery in Belgium, Chichester Cathedral and the Royal West of England Academy. Her work is also part of the collection at the Swindon Museum and Art Gallery.

She describes her work as: “Juxtapositions that I hope suggest contradictions of strength and fragility, stability and precariousness – like the relationships between human beings. But also of rest and activity, grace and motion, that give an object a lively presence and a sense of individual character. But really all this is open to the eye of the beholder. I never want to be too prescriptive, and in saying this much I’ve probably said too much.”

Patricia adds: “As a sculptor I love working with the directness of clay, using all the techniques, coiling and slab building, making one-off pieces, which are fired then finished with acrylic paint. Classical sculpture was always highly coloured but we have this erroneous idea that they were all white and sterile looking. My obsession as an artist is catching a very simple form or line, then enhancing it with colour.”

She was regional winner of the ING Discerning Eye prize in 2007 and has been shortlisted for the prestigious Brian Mercer Residency. One of her pieces was also selected as a Southern Arts prize.

Patricia’s exhibition at Oink gallery continues until the end of September. She will also be doing a free talk on her process and the collection in the gallery on Thursday July 12 at 7pm.

Gallery owner Mark Pepperall said: “It’s so exciting to have Patricia’s work in the gallery. We’ve been discussing a show for a while now and the work brings something completely new to the gallery. The work also fits really nicely with the selection of 30-plus current artists.”

The gallery also has new pieces by Brighton Street artist Cosmo Sarson, east London’s Ben Eine and Soozy Lipsey, and pop artist Sara Pope. For more information, visit oinkgallery.co.uk.