Faith in the Miraculous by Matthew Raw

10.01.2022 Design
Design

Matthew Raw (@mattrawworksinclay) is the artist commissioned to turn a huge section of outer wall by a main entrance into a beautiful mural. Matt’s ceramic artwork, called Faith in the Miraculous, is a labour of love and community inspiration, reflecting creativity and innovation.

This large-scale ceramic mural (5x15m) is installed on the new Arts & Humanities Building at The University of Warwick, designed by Fielden Clegg Bradley Studios. Commissioned by curator Sarah Shalgosky in 2018, the artwork champions the coming together of people, references the architecture of Coventry Cathedral, with its spectacular array of color, and celebrates the historical skills of the area.

The fired clay tiles were made at the NBK Terracotta factory in Germany where Raw decided to make ‘hand-made’ interventions to carve and adapt a number of the 70x100cm tiles. The incredible effects of areas of mixed glaze —another hand-made intervention— represent the meeting of minds and the sharing of knowledge. As Matthew Raw puts it: “This artwork is an exploration of the act of people coming together to create. What relationships, collaborations, meetings, sharing of thoughts and ideas will this building facilitate? It is not knowing. It is the chance of it all.”

Faith in the Miraculous by Matthew Raw