Off the Hump: Poetry of Clay with Tarragon Smith

This webinar is part of The Summer Sessions: Craft & Design, a series of online conversations with craftspeople, designers, academics and storytellers. The previous one was on miracle fibres from Patagonia with Cindy Lilen.

Tarragon Smith is a thoughtful person. Before I met him, his tea bowls 'spoke' to me through Instagram. At first, it was the shapes and decorations on his pots that caught my attention, but then I started reading his lyrical captions with stories of making and everyday life.

Water and waves run through both his life and work. He lived by the sea in his native Nova Scotia, Canada, and now lives by the river in Cambridgeshire, England. In between he moved to London to further his art studies at Central Saint Martins, first as a painter and then by happenstance in ceramics.

It was three or four years ago that I decided to purchase one of his summer chawans to enjoy matcha during the hot season, occasionally with an ice cube or two in it. Then, in May of this year we met in person at a big ceramics exhibition, where we talked about his inspirations and tools.

His approach to work, using a momentum potter's wheel, experimenting with local river clay and ash glazes, reminds me of the Taoist concept of wu wei, effortless action that flows with natural rhythms rather than forcing outcomes.

This philosophy extends to his broader artistic vision. Tarragon's pots speak of migration, memory and the stories held within objects that for millennia nomads used to carry commodities, aesthetics and ideas. For example, his amphora project references ancient Mediterranean trade routes whilst addressing current refugee experiences, where vulnerable people become commodities in the hands of traffickers.

Join us for an online conversation with Tarragon Smith about his journey to pottery and how water, movement, and memory shape his work.