Architectural ceramicist
- Kay loves botanical themes
- A digital microscope helps her to uncover hidden details in flora
- For her, touching is as important as looking
Ceramics give Kay Aplin a sense of freedom to be able to make whatever she wants. She discovered this after experimenting with weaving and jewellery, while studying for her foundation course at Central Saint Martins in London and it changed her life forever. Brought up in Scotland, she has lived in Denmark, Guatemala, Italy and Spain, before moving to Brighton in 2008, where she opened a studio at Phoenix Artspace. In 2011 she created The Ceramic House: her home, a pop-up gallery, an artists' residency and a living work of art, where she permanently showcases her architectural ceramic installations and collaborates with sound artist Joseph Young. An artist and a curator, Kay Aplin creates public art commissions using stoneware ceramic, “the most effective, enduring material to inject colour into the environment”.
Interview
- Is your work linked to your home town?
- My work always relates the physical characteristics, uses and geographical location of a site, as well as its historical heritage and surrounding natural, social, industrial and architectural influences, while ensuring it remains relevant.
- How influential was your residency?
- The residency at Guldagergaard International Ceramic Research Centre led to a significant change in my practice and since then I have been creating slip-cast porcelain wall mounted artworks with a botanical theme.
- Could you describe your creative process?
- My process involves using a digital microscope to uncover hidden details in flora which are magnified to reveal highly textured designs that become the basis for porcelain tile-based compositions.
- Why did you join forces with Joseph Young?
- To develop an ongoing collaboration combining craft and digital art exploring the intersection between sound art and ceramic practice.
Kay Aplin is an expert artisan: she began her career in 1995
Where
Kay Aplin
