Claire Muckian’s profile on Ceramics Now Magazine – View her works
“Lying somewhere between contemporary ceramics and sculpture, my work presents a hybrid of both disciplines.
Currently, the work centres on obscure, hidden and uncontrolled spaces that arise through the ceramic making process. I construct using fine hand-building techniques such as pinching and coiling to form thin walls. By making in this way, interesting spaces present themselves, whilst also highlighting the dialogue between the interior and exterior. Lattice-work (alternating bands of supports and rows) enables me to construct delicate structures that are at once open and closed. Often, I use motifs to denote meaning.
Materially, I use a variety of different clays such as porcelain, terracotta and stoneware clays. In particular, I enjoy using porcelain, which I exploit for its delicacy and translucence. Sometimes I introduce a variety of mixed media such as wax. Works range in scale from the intimate to large scale.
I strive towards the qualities of anonymous art. Paring back to pure, multi-referencing and ambiguous elements, I draw influence from concentrated forms such as menhirs, circles and lozenges. Abstract, yet familiar, these are objects that appeal to the archaic content of the mind where the viewer might approach some form of recognition.” Claire Muckian
Born in 1981 in Dundalk, Ireland, Claire Muckian lives and studies in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Visit the artist’s website.
