Stephen Dixon

The intention of this new body of work, 'Maiolica and Migration', is to draw attention to the ongoing catastrophe of forced migration, as epitomised by the regular shipwrecks and sinking of refugee vessels in the English Channel and Mediterranean Sea.

The central narrative within the work draws upon the connection between the historical migration of white tin-glazed pottery - originally from North Africa to Spain and Italy (Maiolica) then to France (Faence), Holland (Delftware) and eventually into the UK (English Delftware) - to the parallel migration patterns of contemporary refugees and asylum seekers from North Africa to Northern Europe, using tin-glazed ceramic as both the medium and the message.

With its combination of tin glaze and printed imagery, the materiality of the work links directly to Liverpool’s ceramic traditions; firstly as an important manufacturer of English Delftware, and secondly as the originator of onglaze ceramic printing (Sadler and Green, 1756).