Nicola Tassie (British, b. 1960) is a London-based ceramic artist whose elegant work blends functional forms with conceptual notions of fine art. Employing centuries-old pottery traditions, Tassie creates pieces that are immediately recognizable and approachable as humble quotidian domestic objects; however, through closer inspection, they reveal that the usability is only alluded to through certain formal properties, and not discreetly possible. Her oeuvre is comprised of clean forms that are experimental in their use of texture, color, and technique, as can be seen in her totemic sculptures, stacks of “pots” that can rise to over eight feet in height. Tassie uses a variety of clays, including stoneware, porcelain, and paper clay, and plays with the the technicalities of the kiln firing them at different temperatures or placing them in different locations within the kiln. Her work is mostly thrown, though she integrates some hand building into her practice.
Tassie studied painting at Central School of Art and Design in London before dedicating herself completely to the practice of ceramics. She is a founding member of Standpoint Studios in London. Her work has been exhibited widely in the U.K. as well as in the United States. She received commendation in the International Maker Showcase from the Crafts Council of England in 2016 and was awarded the Visual Arts Production Award in Ceramics from Greater London Arts.
NICOLA TASSIE
Born in 1960, London
Founding member and Director of Education Projects at Standpoint Studios, London
EDUCATION
1988 Ceramics, Islington Institute, London, UK
1983 BA with Honors, Fine Art/Painting, Central School of Art and Design, London, UK
1980 Foundation, Saint Martin's School of Art, London, UK
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2023 Abstract Color, Marlborough Gallery, London, UK
2022 Grounding, Jaggered Art, London, UK
4, Cross Lane Projects, Kendal, Cumbria, UK
2021
Nicola Tassie Ceramics & John McLean Prints, The Fine Art Society, London, UK
Slip and Stasis, Standpoint Gallery, London, UK
Sweet Dreams, Fine Art Society, London, UK
2020 Dirty Hands and Revelations, The Great Oxygenation Event, RCA at Standpoint Gallery,
London, UK
Sculptural Meets Functional, Maud and Mabel Gallery, London, UK
2019 New Artist Group Exhibition, Hostler Burrows, New York, NY
Collecting Craft, The Holburne Museum, Bath, UK
Collect 19, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK
2018 Levelling Traditions, Hauser & Wirth, Somerset, UK
Perspective, Petronilla Silver, London, UK
2017 Tremenheere Sculpture Park, Penzance, Cornwall, UK
Collect at Petronilla Silver Stand, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK
2016 Line Up (touring) at the Devon Guild of Craftsmen, Bovey Tracey, Devon, UK
ING Discerning Eye Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London, UK
The White Show, Clotworthy House & Antrim Castle Gardens, Antrim, UK
British Craft: Miami Edit, One Hotel, Miami, FL
2015 Line Up, Flow Gallery, London, UK
Collect, Stand Petronilla Silver of the Wills Lane Gallery, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK
Orchestrated Marks, Quercus Gallery, Bath, UK
Grand Magasin, French Riviera, London, UK
2014 Mud and Water, Rokeby Gallery, London, UK
Craft, Standpoint Gallery, London, UK (solo exhibition)
Grand Magasin, French Riviera, London, UK
2013 Natural Selection, Gallery Top, Matlock, Derbyshire, UK
Bryan Ingham & Nicola Tassie, The Cross Street Gallery, London, UK
2012 Everyday, The Craft Center and Design Gallery, City Art Gallery, Leeds, UK
Made in London, Contemporary Ceramics, London, UK
London Design Festival, Margaret Howell, Fulham, London, UK
2011 Hatchet & Helve, Standpoint Gallery, London, UK
2010 Hand Made in England, Few and Far, London, UK
2009 Contemporary Applied Arts, Somerset House, London, UK
2007 Ceramics at St. David's Hall, Cardiff, Wales, UK
2005 Points of View, Standpoint Gallery, London, UK
2000 Hidden Art of Hackney, Hackney Museum, London, UK
1999 New Designers, The Geoffrey Museum, London
1989 Whitechapel Open, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, UK
AWARDS
2016 Selected Maker, The International Maker Showcase, Future Made, Crafts Council of
England, UK
1991 Visual Arts Production Award in Ceramics, Greater London Arts, London, UK
PUBLICATIONS
2016 Imperfect Perfect by Karen McCartney, Sharyn Cairns and Glen
Proebstel, published by Murdoch Books
2015 Country Living Modern Rustic issue 4, text by Caroline Atkins
2015 Makers of East London, published by Hoxton Mini Press
2006 The Ceramics Book - an A-Z guide to 300 ceramic artist, published by
Ceramic Review Publishing Ltd
2005 Points of View, by Geoffrey Quilley, Standpoint, London / Ceramics:
Art and Perception International, issue60
2004 To Have and to Hold, Ceramic Review, Sept/Oct
1999 Painted Ceramics; colour and imagery on clay, by Brenda Pegrum,
published by Crowood Press
1992 Freeing the Spirit, Crafts Magazine, May/June
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2016 Viladas, Pilar, "Old School and Cutting Edge Furniture to Blow Your Mind
The Best of Design Miami 2016," W Magazine, December 2, 2016
2015 Treggiden, Katie, "Tactile design: why we like things a little rough around
the edges," The Spaces, December 14, 2015
