Pottery show judge opens first major exhibition

The presenter of Channel 4's The Great Pottery Throwdown is hosting his first major solo exhibition.

Rich Miller said the motivation behind the exhibition at Watts Gallery, in Guildford, Surrey, was his "fascination with British history" and his "experiences growing as a mixed-raced kid" in West Sussex.

The artist, who studied ceramics at Surrey Institute of Art and Design, said that he loved using clay to create as ceramics had "always been the centre of social history".

"Ceramics has played an important role in human history. The oldest pot is about 20,000-years-old," he said.

Miller added: "I just love making things out of clay, because artists can create so many different things with it."

The exhibition, Fired Legacies, explores British colonial history and Miller's family's migration history to the UK.

"My family travelled to Britain as part of the labour force who helped rebuild the country," he said.

"I want to look into their journey from Guyana and what brought them to the continent."

Miller added that he had spent several months creating the artwork for his exhibition.

"The lovely thing about artwork is they are good conversation-starters," he said.

The exhibition runs until 28 June.

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