Anna Barlow (Bristol, UK, 1982)  is fascinated by the way we eat food and especially by the rituals that have developed around celebrational or indulgent treats: the way they are assembled, displayed and then eaten. She explores how food tells a story of the people and place it’s in. A full stand of ice creams could suggest a hot day or treats abandoned for some mysterious reason. Fascinated by the beauty of food left to melt and ooze, she captures this overlooked temporary moment and freezes it in time with the clay and glaze of ceramics.  Her ice cream pieces capture the momentary and yet memorable nature of the treat, they evoke memories of sensations and tastes, as well as prompts our fantasies of desired indulgences. Barlow’s main inspiration is the qualities of materials themselves: clay, porcelain and glaze have so many wonderful possibilities that often translate well to represent food. She masters and amazingly combines these techniques to create a “visual edibility” to the work; it is up to the imagination it of the viewers as to how they will taste.

Fosca Boggi (Faenza , Italy, 1961) can by all means be defined as a pop artist, immediately unmistakably recognizable for her meticulous precision and hyperrealism, using ceramics as a principal medium to express her poetic. Fosca’s attention is captured by forgotten objects and specifically by old toys of her childhood time. The artist operation of sourcing, casting and meticulously reproducingchildren toys with an impressive degree of realism is an open attempt to pause time and crystallize transient memories. Fosca’s works clearly suggest how playing is not just a way for children to create and live in a fantastic imaginary world but it represents their main communication tool and reality interpretation key. The polished stillness of her ceramic toys is somehow metaphysical, suggesting a secret gap between two dimensions which is indeed the main goal of this virtuosic and at the same time conceptual artistic practice.