Artist: Hillary Kane
Hillary Kane, MASSACHISETTS
Artist Bio:
For Hillary Kane, place is of essence and the map coordinates of home have shifted across countries and continents. At very present, she lives a bi-hemispheric lifestyle, splitting time between the lush and heady tropical backdrop of her island life in Bali, Indonesia and the cyclical seasons of her New England upbringing-- embracing the duality of home in two disparate worlds, searching with her artwork for a fluency between them.
Her creative practice likewise bridges and blurs the distinction between mediums: paint and clay. On canvas, she paints with clay slips, reveling in the haphazard spontaneity of a shrinking, cracking surface; on ceramic vessels, she harnesses the infinitely various and beautiful palette that firing with only wood offers. In the studio as in life, her path is a combination of studious commitment to practice and pure leap of faith.
Artist Statement:
I am interested in Process and its crucial visibility in my work. The coalescing of raw elements—earth and fire, ash and draught, placement and patience—are the evident aggregation of material plus endurance over days of wood-firing. The skin of each vessel presents itself as a fossilized record of its own making—the finished works, an archaeological sedimentation of scarified textures, encrusted color and embedded thoughts.
Central to my work is the juxtaposition of weight/weightlessness, solidity/void, containment/exposure and the implausible, precarious, fragile point of balance therein. This tipping point preludes the question: what is too much to hold? What is the liminal space between collapse and levitation, falling and flying? An implied corporeality belies pure abstraction of form; thus, my works are often transliterations, a macro lens deliberating on the microcosm within.
EXHIBITIONS
“Earthworks,” juried show, Umbrella Center for the Arts, Concord, MA 2024
Yunomi Invitational, Clay Akar (online exhibition) 2023-4
Exhibiting Artist, KALPA Gallery, Volterra, ITALY 2024
“UNEARTHED” (solo show) Lacoste Gallery, Concord, MA 2022
“Uncommon Ground” (invitational group show) Western Wyoming Community College, Rock Springs, WY 2022
“Tea Reflection” (invitational group show) the Craft Alliance, St. Louis, MO 2021
“Atmosphere…” (group exhibition) Umbrella Art Center Gallery, Concord, MA USA 2020
Gaya Ceramic Art Space Gallery (solo exhibition and continuing exhibition) 2017-present
Gaya Ceramic Showroom (continuing exhibition of works) 2012-present
John Hardy Jewelry, Seminyak, Bali, INDONESIA 2019-present
Exhibiting Artist, Cooroy “Syrinx Anagama” 2017
Gulgong Ceramic Conference, Gulgong, AUSTRALIA 2016
(window front exhibition in Thai Restaurant)
“Fire something…” (group exhibition), Artifact Gallery, Tasmania, AUSTRALIA 2011
“Relics of a Dreaming” (solo exhibition), Gaya Fusion Art Space, Bali, INDONESIA 2010
Indivie Gallery, Seminyak, Bali, INDONESIA 2010-present
Métis Gallery, Seminyak, Bali, INDONESIA 2009-13
Kanayama Resident Artist Exhibition, Kanayama Pottery, Aomori, JAPAN 2009
“Sanctum Shifting” (solo exhibition), Gaya Fusion Art Space, Bali, INDONESIA 2009
Loka Café-Gallery, (solo exhibition), Taos, NM 2008
Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs Spa, (featured artist), Ojo Caliente, NM 2008
Contemporary Clay Fair, NM Potters and Clay Artists, Santa Fe, NM 2007-8
- Bradford Pottery, (two-woman show), Arroyo Seco, NM 2007
Centre Ceramique de la Borne, “La Borne S’Enflamme,” FRANCE 2007
“The State of Clay” (juried exhibition), De Cordova Museum, Lexington, MA 2007
- Bradford Pottery, Arroyo Seco, NM 2005-8
Parks II Gallery, Taos, NM 2007
Visiting Artist Lecture and Solo Exhibition, Miss Porter's School, Farmington, CT 2006
Taos Fall Arts Festival, Taos, NM 2006/7
Lacoste Gallery, (Emerging Artist Group Show), Concord, MA 2006
Asian Arts Festival, Harwood Museum of Art, Taos, NM 2006
Creamery Gallery Potter’s Market, Canton Clayworks, Canton, CT 2004
Faculty Artist Solo Show, Gallery at Miss Porter’s School, Farmington, CT 1998
Open Galleries, Burren College of Art, Ballyvaughan, IRELAND 1997
Senior Scholar Thesis Exhibit, Colby College Art Museum, Waterville ME 1997
Master-Apprentice Retrospective, Dickinson College in Toulouse, FRANCE 1996
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
CO-FOUNDER/CREATIVE DIRECTOR,
Gaya Ceramic Arts Center, Bali, INDONESIA 2009-present
Directing development of international workshops, artist in residence program, and community education. Hosting as well as leading 2-week workshops. Instructing professional courses in throwing, hand-building, firing techniques.
WORKSHOP INSTRUCTOR, La Meridiana, Tuscany, ITALY 2023
RESIDENT ARTIST, La Meridiana, Tuscany, ITALY 2023
WORKSHOP INSTRUCTOR, Alison Palmer Studio, Kent, CT, USA 2021/22/24
INSTRUCTOR, Umbrella Center for the Arts, Concord, MA, USA 2019
Semester-long courses in throwing and hand-building.
LECTURER, “Smoke on the Water” Wood-fire conference, Cooroy, AUSTRALIA 2017
Invited firer on the “Syrinx” anagama.
LECTURER, Woodfire Tas, tri-annual wood fire conference, Tasmania, AUSTRALIA 2011
WORKSHOP LEADER, Canberra Potters Society, Brookvale TAFE Syndey, AUS 2011
Two-day workshops in either location entitled “1000 Surfaces condensed” and “Pandora Revealed”
GUEST LECTURER, Golden Earth 2010, Ceramics Conference, New Delhi, INDIA 2010
RESIDENT ARTIST, Kanayama Pottery, Aomori, JAPAN 2009
Participant with 12 international artists in one-month woodfire studio residency.
RESIDENT ARTIST, Gaya Ceramic and Design, BALI, INDONESIA 2008-9
Developing and instructing international two-week workshop programs. Demonstrating throwing and hand-building techniques in production studio.
VISUAL ART SPECIALIST, Green School, BALI, INDONESIA 2008
Developed and taught art curriculum K-8 in stunningly atypical outdoor school setting.
WORKSHOP LEADER, University of New Mexico, Farmington 2007
Two-day workshop for adult ceramicists focusing on wheel-thrown and hand-built forms, slip work, and brush-making.
INVITED ARTIST, Young International Woodfiring Association, La Borne, FRANCE 2007
Participant artist at kiln building, firing symposium involving 25 wood kilns, an international gathering of clay artists, and a final exhibition.
WORKSHOP LEADER, Taos Clay, Taos, NM 2005-8
Instructor for workshops and courses including wheel-throwing, Chinese brush-making, slips for woodfire, and hand-building techniques.
VISITING ARTIST, Miss Porter's School, Farmington, CT 2006
Three-day visit including slide lecture, exhibition of work, and classroom participation.
WORKSHOP LEADER, Palmer Studio, Kent, CT 2006
Two-day workshop focusing on wheel-throwing, hand-building, slips and techniques for woodfire.
GALLERY ASSISTANT, J.Bradford Pottery, Arroyo Seco, NM 2005-8
Assistant in sales, shows, publicity, and wood-firings.
STUDIO INTERN, Canton Clayworks, Canton, CT 2004
Instructor for adult and children ceramics courses, firing technician for wood kiln, assistant in sudio and gallery management.
E.F.L. TEACHER, American Language Institute, PORTUGAL/SPAIN 2003
Taught beginning to advanced adult English classes focusing on oral fluency and accuracy.
AGRICULTURAL VOLUNTEER, Willing Workers on Organic Farms, ITALY 2002
Experienced a variety of organic farming methods and techniques ranging from sheep
herding and cheese production, to large-scale greenhouse farming, and agritourism.
E.F.L. TEACHER, Gao Xin No. 1 High School, Xi’an, CHINA 2001-2002
Designed and taught an oral English curriculum to advanced high school level students focusing on oral comprehension and communication.
PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEER, Agroforestry, CAMEROON 1998-2000
Guided village farmers to incorporate sustainable and environmentally suitable techniques into farming systems.
Researched indigenous and contemporary artwork of Cameroon.
STUDIO ART TEACHER, Miss Porter’s School, Farmington, CT 1997-1998
Taught Fundamentals of Drawing, Painting, Printmaking, Begining Photography (black and white processes). Assisted AP Art History and AP Portfolio classes.
EDUCATION and TRAINING
B.A. Studio Art and Art History, Colby College, Waterville, ME 1997 Graduated Summa cum Laude with distinction in major.
School of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA 2004
Penland School of Crafts, Penland, NC 2002
Burren College of Art, Ballyvaughan, County Clare, IRELAND 1997
Dickinson College à Toulouse, FRANCE 1996
École des Beaux-Arts, Toulouse, FRANCE 1996