Nadav Drukker

Nadav Drukker’s work endeavours to mirror the creativity of scientific research in ceramics. He is a reader in Theoretical Physics, based at Kings College London, who creates objects and vessels in clay as a means to communicate his research.

His finished pieces follow the development of his solutions to complex theoretical questions. His early ideas and drafts, some of them crude or possibly ultimately false, are depicted on rugged pots with rough inscriptions, highlighted or obscured by oxides and uneven application of glaze. Later incarnations of the ideas, better formed, more polished, and likely more accurate, are depicted in finer ceramics. To the casual viewer, the formulas and the accompanying words depicted on the works make little sense, and could be viewed as modern cuneiforms or hieroglyphs.

‘Originally ceramics were a way for me to focus on something other the grueling research environment, but recently I have felt compelled to combine my two passions.’

Drukker’s works present a drive towards a more human way of presenting an obscure field of research through colour, illustration and symbols. The ceramics themselves are reminiscent of classic and antiquarian vessels which have communicated the langue of science, business, and arts through history. The ancient Greeks and Egyptians looked on pottery as a cheaper and more accessible alternative to papers or stone, with far more permanence.