Ceramics

Contemporary Artists Working in Clay

Kate Singleton

• Publisher: Chronicle Books LLC
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9781452148090
• eBook ISBN: 9781452148151

This ebook presents the work of 30 contemporary artists who have turned to clay to shape their most innovative ideas into stunning works of art. From cups shaped like crystals to a tree trunk made of porcelain and stoneware planters painted to look like ladies, popular curator and blogger Kate Singleton collects here whimsical pieces with narrative, graphic, curious, and organic qualities that blur the line between fine art, design, and craft. Ceramics is a vital guide to an evolving medium and for those interested in the future of art and craft.

CHAPTER 1: NARRATIVE

Illustration and storytelling in ceramics

The artists in this chapter, many of whom are illustrators,
utilize the surface of their ceramic objects to depict people
and things, and to tell stories.

KJERSTI JOHANNE BARLI

BORN

Norway, 1987

CURRENT LOCATION

Oslo, Norway
www.kjerstibarli.com

BIOGRAPHY

At age eighteen, Kjersti Johanne Barli moved from her home in the countryside to study illustration in Trondheim, Norway. She continued her studies at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts. Today she is a freelance illustrator and artist who has worked on commissions for newspapers, magazines, books, and children’s books. Barli has exhibited her drawings, paintings, collages, and ceramics in Oslo and Prague. In 2014 she was one of thirty artists nominated for the Young Illustrators Award in Berlin.

ARTIST STATEMENT

I work in different media, but ceramics stands out because of its tactility. It is of great value to me to work more physically with my hands—to shape and create something other than on a piece of paper. It has added great value to my drawing style as well; I’m transferring ways of forming body parts to my drawings. With clay, things rarely turn out exactly as planned, and suddenly I have a new, fun shape that I can bring with me into the drawing world. It was fun to observe that this goes both ways—I kind of already had a style of shaping clay as soon as I started working with it.

The Bowl of Gluttony, 2013

Stoneware clay

The Plate of Greed, 2013

Stoneware clay

The Goblet of Envy, 2013

Stoneware clay

The Bowl of Pride, 2013

Stoneware clay

LAURA BIRD

BORN

South Wales, United Kingdom, 1986

CURRENT LOCATION

London, England
www.laurabird.co.uk
www.etsy.com/shop/lauralaurabird

BIOGRAPHY

Laura Bird is an illustrator and ceramicist living and working in East London. In 2009 she graduated from Kingston University with a Bachelor of Arts in Illustration. During her final year at university, her end-of-year project was created from mixed media with clay elements. Since then she has worked in ceramics and, through evening courses and experimentation, developed her own quirky touch. Bird’s ceramics have been featured online in publications including Booooooom and It’s Nice That. She is also part of the film collective This Is It.

ARTIST STATEMENT

My work in ceramics is very playful. The pieces retain a naïve quality in the decorat...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Dedication
• Copyright
• Contents
• Foreword
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Narrative
• Chapter 2: Graphic
• Chapter 3: Curious
• Chapter 4: Organic
• Photography Credits
• About the Author
• Chronicle Ebooks