View Kira O’Brien’s works featured on Ceramics Now Magazine
“My work has a sculptural yet functional element to it and encompasses a sense of traditional ceramic techniques. Within this tradition is the art of storytelling and symbols which evoke certain sentiments and nostalgia but also a sense of the present environment. This environment is psychological and therefore each piece points to emotions within the narrative.
My present work is currently narrated by the symbol of the chair.
How does one define a simple thing like the chair? What makes the chair, a chair? As James Joyce says in A Portrait of a young man, “Is a chair conceived as a work of tragic or comic art?”
No other object forcefully shapes the physical, social and emotional dimensions of our lives. On the chair seats only one person at a time and responds to the body through touch and a sense of comfort. It has a communicative function and offers a glimpse into our collective ideas about that sense of comfort and order.
One can imagine the world from a persons’ perspective as it communicates compassion. Just as its absence communicates disrespect, lack of empathy and loss, whether this loss is a physical or emotional one.
The structures and physical aspects of my work consist in box forms and wall plates, platters and functional ware, which for the most part are slab, mold and hand-carved. I occasionally use the potters wheel for throwing ware and using as a tool for extra details. Sgraffito is my chosen ceramic technique at this time but I have used inlay and carving in the past.” Kira O’Brien
Kira O’Brien’s C.V. (resume) – View her works
EDUCATION
– B.A in Ceramic Design & Fine Art, Crawford College of Art & Design, Cork
– Ceramic Art & Design Course, ColaisteStiofainNaofa, Cork
– Career Foundation Course, Art, Drama, Photography, Dance, Marino College, Dublin
EXHIBITIONS
2002 – International Cup 2012, Jury Selected, Clay Art Studio, Missoula, Montana, U.S.A, Feb, 2012
– Year Of Craft, Dunamaise Arts Centre, Portlaoise, Dec 2011 – Jan 2012
2011 – Christmas Exhibition, Lavit Gallery, Cork, 2011
– Ceramic Exhibition, Lovinspoon Café, Frederick St, Dublin, 2011
– Le Boite Ceramic Biennale, Jury Selected, Carouge, Geneva, Switzerland, 2011
– Drawing Connections, Sienna, Italy, 2011
– Sculpture in Context, Jury Selected, Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, Dublin, 2011
– Irish Ceramic Awards, Mill Cove Gallery, BearaPenninsula, Cork, 2011
– Irish Ceramic Exhibition, Mill Cove Gallery, BearaPenninsula, Cork, 2011
2010 – Ceramic & Visual Art Exhibition, Solo Show, LovinspoonCafé, Frederick St, Dublin, 2010
– Group Exhibition, Mad Fish Gallery, Crosshaven, Cork, 2010
– Sculpture In Context, Jury Selected, Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, Dublin, 2010
– Ceramic & Visual Art Exhibition, LovinspoonCafé, Frederick St, Dublin, 2010
2009 – In This City, Installation and Gallery Piece, Airfield House, Dundrum, Dublin, 2009
2008 – Group Show, Old E.S.B, Cork, 2008
2005 – Group Show, ColaisteStiofainNaofa, Cork, 2005
Private Collections in Australia, U.S.A. England
Work on view – Jam Art Factory, Dublin
Visit Kira O’Brien’s website.
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