Alison Kay

Alison Kay was born in Dublin in 1953. She studied at Dun Laoghaire College of Art and Design (IADT) from 1971-1974 specialising in ceramics. She set up her own ceramic studio in Sandycove, Co. Dublin in 1977 where she worked for 6 years. She taught Ceramics adult education classes with the VEC in Dun Laoghaire from 1990-2000. In 2004, she set up a studio in Shankill, Co. Dublin where she works full time as a Ceramic Artist.

Kay has exhibited both nationally and internationally. She has been an invited artist at the Royal Hibernian Academy annual exhibition and a regular exhibitor. She showed at the Irish Pavilion in Shanghai in 2010. She was selected to show at Ceramics Art London in 2013. Exhibitions have included Vase: Function Reviewed at the National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny, 2016, curated by Brian Kennedy. Crossroads at the J.Caciolla Gallery New Jersey, USA. 2017. Somewhere In Between at SO Fine Art Editions, Dublin, 2019. Conjuring Form, Donneraille House, Cork, 2021, and Made In Ireland, at the National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny, 2021.

She was selected to be part of the Crafts Council of Ireland’s Portfolio programme in 2007 and their Critical Selection programme in 2021. She was one of twelve Irish artists to show at Collect, London with the Crafts Council of Ireland in 2022.

Kay’s work is in many private and public collections including the National Museum of Ireland, the OPW, the Consulate General of Shanghai and Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown County Council. She won the Ceramics Ireland Peter Brennan Pioneering Award in 2012 and the Royal Ulster Academy Perpetual Silver Medal for Sculpture in 2016.

Visit Alison Kay’s website and Instagram page.