ALISON KAY
CERAMIST
Alison Kay has been making her sculptural ceramic forms for several years from her studio located just outside Dublin. Her brightly coloured, patterned forms are hand built using coils and slabs of white clay that is then gradually scraped back and heavily worked to reveal a sleek, burnished surface.
To achieve this surface layers of very fine terra sigillata clay are brushed on and then polished, creating a rich, fine sheen on the surface. The pieces are patterned by masking off areas with paper and then smoke fired, the action of the smoke on the exposed area provides the contrast between the unexposed areas and gives the pieces the distinctive patterning for which she has become known.
For Kay the aim of making such work is to impart an energy and tautness into each piece and to seamlessly integrate surface and form. The crispness of the finished pattern with its clean delineation and the defined forms used to carry the pattern are the main elements that make her work both distinctive and highly collectible.
Kay’s work is featured in many private and public collections including the Office of Public Works Collection, Dublin and the Consulate General of Ireland, Shanghai, China. She has exhibited in the Royal Hibernian Academy Show, Dublin, Ireland in 2008, 2009 and 2010, and the Irish Pavilion, World Expo, Shanghai, China, 2010. Recent awards include the Hallward Gallery Ceramic Award, Dublin, Ireland, 2008 and The Crafts Council of Ireland Excellence Award, Mill Cove Gallery, Cork, Ireland, 2010.
99 Eaton Wood Grove
Shankill
Co. Dublin
+353 (0) 86 343 1473
alisonkayceramics@msn.com
www.alisonkay.ie
Ardmore Gallery, Waterford, Ireland;;
The Clyne Gallery, Temple Bar, Dublin,
Ireland; The Sliding Rock Gallery,
Spiddal, Galway, Ireland. Work available
to commission and through exhibitions
nationally and internationally.
Image 2: Blue Patterned Wedge Form. White raku clay. 17cm x 14cm x 13cm (H x W x D).