The potter has previous form – in 2012, in the aftermath of treatment for her own breast-cancer she embarked on the C-cup project (referencing both the bra-size and the ‘c-word’ – cancer), hand-throwing 36 cups in three difference shapes and colours. “The different designs reflected the varying size and shape of breasts,” says Vicky, who donated the cups to the Maggie Centre in Aberdeen for use by visitors and staff.
Four years on, she has amassed a collection of 36 mis-matched pairs of jugs, which she sold this weekend to raise money for Maggie’s. “Having paired the jugs to complement each other in terms of shape, colour or design – the similarity yet difference reflects the inevitable but often unappreciated asymmetry of the post-operative world of breast cancer recovery,” she says. “They have been collected over time, from local to far-flung places, French flea markets to antique warehouses in Brooklyn, most of them being vintage finds. Some are quirky, some almost biological, but all are carefully curated to sit as a subtle reminder of the legacy of breast cancer.”
The jugs were part of an exhibition entitled Collected and Curated for Cancer Care and available for sale from 02 – 03 December 2016 at Coexistence’s Islington showroom and raised £1200 for Maggie’s.
Maggie’s Centres provide free emotional, practical and social support for people with cancer and their family and friends, following the ideas about cancer care originally laid out by Maggie Keswick Jencks, and the opening of the first centre in Edinburgh in 1996 shortly after her death. There are now 19 centres, all built to a domestic scale within the grounds of cancer hospitals, in the UK and abroad, plus an online Centre – and there are plans for more centres opening throughout 2017. Maggie’s Manchester, designed by Foster + Partners, recently won both the Structural Award and the ‘winner of winners’ Arnold Laver Gold Award as part of the 2016 Wood Awards.
