News

Fancy Footwork Gallery gets new exhibition ready. Photo Dylan Vaughan for The Irish Times, 14th February 2023.

At the launch of LAND/MARKS, Brian Byrne, Gallery Coordinator, National Design & Craft Gallery and Suzy O Keefe, Head of Digital Communications, Design and Crafts Council Ireland were photographed with ‘Not All Streets are Paved With Gold’ a piece by Eleanor Swan.

Ceramics Ireland is delighted to present Land/Marks, the fourth in its triennial exhibition series. Continuing the ethos of celebrating the diverse range and breadth of contemporary ceramic work being created my makers of and from Ireland. Land/Marks will feature works that explore and challenge the material clay, investigating its malleability and pushing its boundaries.

This will be evident through a variety of sculptural forms, functional vessels and installation-based works. The independent expert panel of three selected 42 makers for this edition of the triennial series, which will celebrate the craftsmanship and skills of these contemporary practitioners. 

Eleanor Swan prepares her piece 'Not All Streets are Paved With Gold' for Land/Marks exhibition.

LAND/MARKS runs from 14th February to 20th May 2023 at the National Design & Graft Gallery, Co Kilkenny.

‘Fine Giornata’ translates to ‘end of the day’, and ‘Argilla di Fine Giornata’ translates to clay at the end of the day. Apprentices who worked in glass or ceramic studios would often have the opportunity to make their own work with leftover materials at the end of the day and these creations were often called ‘Fine Giornata’...

2020 was strange year, with some exhibitions and residencies cancelled. But it was a year to experiment and try out new ideas and work towards exhibitions that might or might not happen....but some did. The studio was closed to the public for much of the year but thankfully I managed to keep it going.

 I have presented many workshops and art camps, for all ages in various places around the world. We have used a variety materials from clay, textiles to found objects to investigate the environment we live in. Art and accessibility is also an important aspect to my practice and I was very fortunate to work on ceramic projects in Rosmini School in Dublin and on the first tactile exhibition at the New Taipei City Yingge Ceramic Museum in Taipei Taiwan.