Glenys Barton was born in Stoke-on-Trent in 1944 and studied at the Royal College of Art (1968-71). Works from her first solo show, 'Keramiske Bytteklodster' at the Museum of Decorative Art, Copenhagen, in 1973, were included in the landmark exhibition 'Glenys Barton at Wedgwood' at the Crafts Council Gallery, London, in 1977 and at Wedgwood, New York, in 1978. More solo…
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Glenys Barton was born in Stoke-on-Trent in 1944 and studied at the Royal College of Art (1968-71). Works from her first solo show, 'Keramiske Bytteklodster' at the Museum of Decorative Art, Copenhagen, in 1973, were included in the landmark exhibition 'Glenys Barton at Wedgwood' at the Crafts Council Gallery, London, in 1977 and at Wedgwood, New York, in 1978. More solo and group exhibitions followed in Britain, Europe and the United States. Consequently, Barton's art can be seen in many important public collections throughout Britain, including the Scottish National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery and the Victoria and Albert Museum, as well as in Holland and at the National Museum of Victoria, Melbourne, and Pennsylvania State University Museum of Modern Art.
'My subject is always humanity,' Barton writes, 'sometimes a specific human, sometimes human relationships, sometimes human society. The forms may be heads, parts of figures, whole figures, or, most recently, figures within figures. I am particularly fascinated by heads and hands.' She looks frequently at the art of the past, professing in a statement for an exhibition of self-portraits at the National Portrait Gallery in 2001: 'As I work I feel that I am directly linked with those who have tried to fashion the human form from the earliest times. My greatest achievement would be to create a timeless image.' However, she does admit that she is not particularly interested in herself as a subject, preferring to study others. Her sitters range from art historian Edward Lucie-Smith to dress designer Jean Muir. All are made with great attention to the surface quality of the clay, and in particular to the colours, which range from pale blues that merge with a porcelain body to bright turquoise contrasting with the red of terracotta. In recent bronze casts, Barton has chosen a range of pale patinas, close in nature to her work in porcelain.
The titles of her sculptures go beyond the need for mere identification - instead they clarify her thoughts behind a work, even during making: 'The mood or idea of the piece can change as a face is drawn; an idea begins to form and a title can suggest itself.' Later this gives a hint to the viewer, hopefully leaving room for personal imaginings.
