Heaven’s Night, May 2024. Heiress Gallery, St. Petersburg Florida.

Two person exhibition with painter Caitlin Nobile.

My work for Heaven’s Night is a light-hearted exchange between functional art, domestic space, and playful sculpture, manifested in whimsical and tactile ceramic and textile objects for the home. With a background in architecture and interiors, my practice responds to the restriction and rigidity of architectural practice but maintains the desire to develop a haptic and emotional connection between maker and user. Drawing inspiration from a range of references, including craft traditions, children’s illustrations, art nouveau, postmodernism, and decorative arts, these figurative functional art objects are meant to be touched, handled, and bring joy to everyday life.

The processes for making these works are rooted in craft traditions and highly physical, the ceramic forms a result of handbuilding techniques as old as time and the textile components a method of processing wool fibers known as felting. A series of quirky and organic flowing lamps each assume a distinct personality, their delicate wool shades creating a romantic and warm glow as a counterpoint to the heavy ceramic body. These figurative forms are woven together through a series of textured and muted glazes, a result of embracing spontaneity and experimentation- no two finishes are alike. Anthropomorphic ceramic furniture become a caricature of their more formal and stately inspirations. These works coalesce as playful, unexpected art objects for the home as a result of a personal goal to make art that values utility but doesn’t take itself too seriously.
                



© 2024 Kyra Connolly