During a career spanning five decades, Gwyn Hanssen Pigott made a long study of historical pottery, both Asian and European, and is well practised in the traditions of wood-fired ceramics.

Since 1988, Hanssen Pigott, inspired by the paintings of the Italian twentieth-century artist Georgio Morandi, has formed groups of her pots into still-life arrangements.

In these works, the profiles, volumes and materials of the vessels are endowed with special significance, even a metaphysical dimension.

The scale and titles of works such as Travellers no. 3 2001 open up the possibility of expressing time. Groups of pots within a work may be interpreted in terms of duration, interval, repetition and variation, and may even suggest a musical interpretation.

However, the titles and groupings indicate the artist's interest in social relations, movement and travel. The pots can be compared with the human form, and seem like groups of people standing, sitting or squatting.