Artist: Kirsty Kash
Kirsty Kash, Manitoba
ARTIST BIO:
Kirsty Kash is a ceramic artist working from her home studio in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She is known for making porcelain work that is carved with sprawling feminine floral designs and filled with colour. Drawing from her experiences as a woman and mother of two, her work explores femininity,
self-expression, and learning to take up space.
Kirsty’s voice in clay has been shaped by formal training as well as over a decade of studio practice. Her focus on wax resist and layering colour is inspired by her Ukrainian heritage and a childhood tradition of Pysanky egg decorating, which treats every part of the surface as meaningful. With an extensive background in music, she draws on her love of rhythm and contrast to develop active, assertive surfaces.
Her work has been exhibited across North America and featured in Ceramics Monthly and Pottery Making Illustrated. She has been recognized as an emerging ceramic artist in Canada and teaches workshops that bridge technical process and conceptual thinking.
ARTIST STATEMENT:
My work is about taking up space, reflecting on the expectations placed on me as a girl and the ways they shaped my sense of self. I learned early that appearance was highly rewarded and that expressing my own wants or feelings often came second to being agreeable. Over time, I saw how interests, aesthetics, and forms of expression associated with girls and women are often dismissed as frivolous, superficial, or less serious. My work reflects a desire to live in a world where the perspectives of women are valued, and where more of who we are is welcome.
Each piece is made in translucent porcelain, a material often perceived as delicate but in reality remarkably strong and demanding. Flowers, a familiar symbol of femininity, refuse to stay in their assigned place. The carved designs move across the surface, over rims, and onto handles, challenging expectations of where decoration belongs. Both intentional and technically demanding, these choices reflect the courage it takes to remain visible and vulnerable. Layers of colour celebrate the complexity and nuance of emotions we are often discouraged from expressing.
Through everyday moments of use, my pots insist on the visibility of qualities associated with femininity. Like the flowers that move across their surfaces, they extend beyond expected boundaries, creating space for others to do the same.
PROFILE
Ceramic artist focusing on feminist, functional ceramic art in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
PROFESSIONAL & TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Present Owner, Kirsty Kash Ceramics.
2023 Demonstrator, “Thrown, Carved & Ombré Inlaid” live webinar workshop with Ceramic Arts Network. On Clayflicks.
2022 Instructor, “Let’s Talk About Mugs” workshop, Viva Clayworks, Edmonton, AB I led a full-day workshop on handles and surface decoration.
2018-2021 Instructor & technician, Viva Clayworks, Edmonton, AB I co-instructed children’s hand building and wheel-throwing classes with Elli Grassmuck and instructed teen and adult wheel-throwing and hand building classes.
EDUCATION
2021-2023 Part-Time Student, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB
2013-2021 Weekly Student, Viva Clayworks, Edmonton, AB with KJ Macalister - with some extended breaks
2012-2013 Weekly Student, City Arts Centre, Edmonton, AB
Beginner wheel-throwing sessions with Dan Miller
EXHIBITIONS
2024 Material Mugs IX, Companion Gallery, Humboldt, TN (upcoming) Yunomi Invitational, Clay Akar Gallery, Iowa City, IA (upcoming)
Impostor’s Cup Show, juried by Callahan
A Fair Amount of Colour Popup, NCECA 2024 in Richmond, VA
Last Call IX, juried by Andrew Clark, Companion Gallery
Kristina Batiste, Saltstone Ceramics, Seattle, WA
2023 AX National Emerging Ceramic Artist Exhibition, Arts & Culture Centre of Sussex in New Brunswick, Canada
I was selected as one of 20 emerging Ceramic Artists in Canada
Americano Show, invited by Clay Akar Gallery, Iowa City, IA
Impostor’s Cup Show, Juried by Renee LoPresti, online
March of Mugs, exhibition curated by Alexis Templeton, Alexis Templeton Shop, St. John’s, NL
A Fair Amount of Colour Popup, NCECA 2023 in Cincinnati, OH
Useful Spaces, Juried by Naomi Clement, New Orleans Clay Centre, New Orleans, LA
Winter Warmers Cup Show, Good Earth Pottery, Bellingham, WA
2022 Ceramics Congress Maker’s Market
Chroma, group show curated by Juan Barosso, Saltstone Ceramics, Seattle, WA Impostor’s Cup Show, Juried by Katie Marks & Juan Barosso, Gallery Mostaza, KS
Mug Madness Show & Tournament, curated by Brandon Peña & Didem Mert, Saltstone Ceramics, Seattle, WA
PUBLICATIONS
2023 Author, Quick Tip Article: “Organization at the Wheel” Ceramics Monthly, October 2023 issue
Author, Feature Article: “Carved & Inlaid: Creating Vibrant, Tactile Surfaces by Kirsty Kash” 3-pages, Pottery making Illustrated, May/June 2023 issue
2022 Guest, Podcast: “Creating Carved Floral Designs with Gradients of Underglaze”, episode #94, Shaping Your Pottery with Nic Torres