Kelly Austin

The Digital Portfolio of Kelly Austin

Making pots provides a number of important qualities for me: a measure of creativity and productivity, mental and physical discipline and the opportunity to connect with those who buy my work. I enjoy the constant dialogue between design, craft and art when making. Working primarily on the wheel, I embrace the qualities and values associated with the hand made: thoughtfulness, care, slowness and individual expression. Clay provides endless opportunities, constant questions and the pleasure of handling a sensual material; intellect and imagination embedded in the useful.

My work is fueled by the intimacy, comfort and daily nourishment it provides. I am passionate about re-evaluating familiar forms: accentuating volume, considering light and shadow and investigating proportion. Working in series or sets I am focussed on the way objects interact with one another compositionally, creating a whole from many. Balance, tension and weight are always in play.

My choice of simple and minimal form and surface is a poetic reference to my process of making; the quiet and contemplative state of throwing at the wheel. I have been strongly influenced by British studio potter Lucie Rie and Hans Coper, as well as American studio potter Edith Heath. Equally important has been the still and quiet nature of Australian potter Gwyn Hanssen Pigott’s work. My ceramic aesthetic allows me to be inclusive in the exploration of contemporary approaches, such as Minimalism and Modernist thought. Textile designer Anni Albers, architect Arthur Erickson and artist Agnes Martin inspire my studio practice.

Kelly was born in Vancouver, BC and has attended Capilano College, Emily Carr University and Haystack Mountain School of Craft in Maine, USA.

kelly@kellyaustindesign.com