Artist Statement

Amanda Crump studied Ceramics at the University of Central Lancashire, followed by an MA in Ceramic Design for Production at Staffordshire University. When Amanda had her son, Frankie, it opened up a new world of fairytales, make-believe and wonder. Drawing inspiration from him, and the books they would share, she began to create ceramic characters that exist only in the world of make-believe.
“We often anthropomorphise the creatures we share our world with. There are many lessons to be learned from an animal’s innate sense of dignity and pride that we, as humans, can often lose at an early age.”
Amanda’s creatures have an inscrutability about them, sometimes unsettling and dark, sometimes genial and warm.
“Animals have an instinctive acceptance of life that we humans can be too preoccupied to grasp.”
Amanda questions the way we treat the creatures we share our world with – using them as symbols of legends and folk tales, attributing blame for things we don’t understand in our world, or, even demeaning and anthropomorphising them in the name of love.