Rah Rivers

Rah studied Fine Art in the late 80’s, specialising in painting.  For the past couple of years she has been working in mosaics and she says that the parallels with painting are becoming more and more apparent as she develops ways of working with the china.

Inspired by the beautiful, often hand painted patterns and colours of vintage china, Rah enjoys the challenge of giving old beautifully crafted items a new context.  “Often these small items have a beauty on their own which doesn’t quite have a place to be appreciated.  I’ve found when they are carefully chosen to sit beside other colours and patterns they come to life and can be seen anew”. Unlike paintings, the colours and patterns have to be found from a pallet of vintage china, which is a huge challenge.  Working from a stock of auction and flea market finds, pieces are often worked and reworked, to find just the right balance.  They are hugely time consuming to make and it is this element which Rah has really decided to embrace in this way of working. Rather than trying to speed up the processes and find items that can be produced over and over again, she is exploring how to make unique and beautiful pieces that really take time and a lot of care to put together.  

The work will continue to change as she looks to exploit new ways of using the materials and exploring what is possible.