holding space: elspeth owen and material woman 

Self Published, 2023

Celebrating 50 years of work by potter, activist and feminist, Elspeth Owen, the book is a gaze into Owen’s studio and some of the work created by her in 2023. Interrogating ideas around form, creation, life’s work and the space that we take up, the book hopes to illuminate her precious working environment, its relationship to her pots and other creations, and both the voice and silence that it imbues.

Owen was generous enough to share her studio with me, allowing me unlimited access to photograph all the beauty and simplicity she has immersed herself in since 1975. I first visited Owen’s Grantchester studio, the Pavillion, during the 2022 Open Studios, and emailed Owen asking if I could create a book on her studio. What grew from that initial contact is still pulsating and the book continues to delight not only Owen but the dedicated, loving collectors and admirers of her work.

In stock at the Fitzwilliam Museum shop, Cambridge, as one of Elspeth’s pots has a place there in the permanent collection.