my PUBLIC ART world
J Kay Aplin – Public Art CeramicsHello world!
Welcome! Thanks for visiting my PUBLIC ART world! You are currently viewing my BLOG, which lists recent news/projects only. Please visit my fabulous new website to see ALL my work!
I trained in public art and design, specialising in ceramics and glass, graduating from Chelsea College of Art and Design in 1995. Since then, I have been working successfully as an artist producing public realm works around the UK and internationally.
I take reference from the world around me, observing pattern, form, a/symmetry and colour present in nature and architecture, and reflect these observations within my designs. I am particularly interested in tactile properties and surface texture, and how light affects colour and its reflective qualities within both ceramic and glass.
Integrating artworks into public spaces means responding to the surrounding environment and my work relates to the physical characteristics, uses and location of a site, its historical heritage and relevance and accessibility to those who use it.
Bolt Court, a new installation on display at:
TWISTED:
Private View: Friday 22nd July from 5pm
Phoenix Brighton Gallery, Waterloo Place, Brighton. BN2 9NB
Twisted focuses on work by seven artists who employ traditional materials and techniques of textiles and ceramics, but manipulate and twist them into different forms, altered meanings and new directions. Wriggling out of the traditional domain of ‘craft’, these objects escape the plinth, shelf and glass cabinet, occupying the gallery as unconventional wall pieces and installations that you can walk through and explore.
Bolt Court is destined for a site in The Ceramic House and will be on permanent display and open to the public in May 2012. As with all the other permanent pieces so far installed into The Ceramic House, this piece was originally designed for another site/client. The name Bolt Court is derived from the place where it was made.
The Ceramic House is my latest personal project, the inauguration of which took place in May 2011 for Brighton Festival (Artists Open Houses). Over the next few years, my house will be transformed into a living showcase of my work with many permanent ceramics and glass installations filling the house and garden.
Common Sounds
Work in progress for Common Sounds:Touching the Void.
The derelict Commonwealth Institute Gallery with my Queen’s HEAD plates ready to install… All manner of backstage madness was unfolding while I was unpacking the plates, including, simultaneously, a dance group rehearsing in one cavernous corner of the space; down below a string quartet was practising and the Neo Futurist Collective was in full megaphone swing…
The Ceramic House movie
The Ceramic House short film:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaUjBJtGeJM
Crafts Magazine blog:
The Ceramic House 2011 update
The Ceramic House garden view
It’s been a whirlwind few weeks with the inauguration of The Ceramic House and a stream of visitors every Saturday and Sunday since the beginning of May. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive; the exhibition is fantastic, and the house has never looked so good! Read on to find out what people have been saying about The Ceramic House, take in some images and don’t miss the movie!
A short film about The Ceramic House 2011:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaUjBJtGeJM
Comments:
“An absolutely exceptional, stunning show of work! A pleasure to view such pieces of high standard. This deserves to be a “must see” exhibition. Thank you!”
“Amazing! This should win The Best House Award! So inspiring. A true work of art – the entire house!”
“Extraordinary! Wonderful! Enchanting.”
“Amazing new addition to the open houses. I’ve never seen ceramics like this before. Whole new worlds of wonder.”
“Brilliant work – so well curated!! Very special to walk around with the sound piece too – became completely submerged in the world of ceramic making. Very lucky to come this year as folks will be queuing down the street next year!! Well done!!”
“Thank you for the opportunity and bringing some talented ceramicists together under one roof. Your breadth of work (and productivity) is both breath-taking and inspiring.”
“Fantastic choice of ceramicists! Look forward to coming again next year and seeing another innovative selection – Brilliant.”
“Wonderful work and what effort has gone into this fabulous display of ceramic craft! Very impressive. And all accompanied by Joe’s great sound art. I love it!”
“Thank you for opening your house. I loved the work! The most fascinating house I’ve visited.”
“Absolutely fabulous – tiles are stunning. Thank you! A magic, beautiful place and space. Great.”
“It’s the best open house. Thanks!”
“Mind-blowing.”
“Jaw-droppingly amazing! Thank you.”
“Great contemporary stuff! Very high quality. Thanks – enjoyed v. much”
“Fantastic bathroom and house. You must open every year!”
Joseph Young’s sound piece:
“A wonderfully immersive series of musical essays, they perfectly accompany the beautiful works in the house. Both soothing and invigorating in turn, I really enjoyed listening – thanks!”
“An amazing all-encompassing sound experience. The sounds of creation – a unique journey through a process of making. Brilliant! Thank you!”
“Enjoyed trying to walk around with the iPod – so interesting hearing the ceramic sounds and processes whilst looking at the visual feast of everything around me. Thanks”
Countdown to the opening of The Ceramic House
Only 7 days to go!
Today’s update:
A work in progress – “Commercial Street”. A table covered with a collection of Victorian and Art Deco tiles gathered over many years is finally nearing completion…
Ceramic Doves commission for Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding
I was commissioned by Historic Royal Palaces to work on a commemoration project for Prince William and Kate Middelton’s wedding. The brief was to create something in ceramic that could then be decorated by community participants and displayed in Kensington Palace before ultimately being given to the Royal Couple as a wedding present.
I proposed to create a series of hand-made ceramic doves, finished with a white gloss glaze and decorated with transfers designed by adults from various centres and groups in Kensington and Chelsea.
I worked with three groups; two were invited into Kensington Palace and we met the third in their home in Chelsea. In each instance, we started the session by learning some histories about past Royal Weddings and reminiscing about personal experiences of weddings. We provided an abundance of Royal Wedding memorabilia dating from many famous weddings including Charles and Diana, Princess Margaret and Queen Victoria, and of course the impending wedding of William and Kate. The participants used the source material provided to come up with designs referring to wedding paraphernalia, bells, crowns, tiaras, confetti, coats of arms, the initials of the couple, symbolism, etc.
Even though many of the participants complained about being unable to draw, everyone came up with beautiful, detailed drawings, which I then transformed into ceramic transfers.
The second session involved two activities: applying the transfers to the glazed doves, and creating mini relief doves by press-moulding clay into a plaster mould, an activity designed so that every person would have something to take away with them. These dove reliefs I fired and glazed and presented to the participants during the final party celebration.
The doves themselves were fired again to fix the transfer designs on to them, and are currently on display in Kensington Palace. We made 29 doves, one decorated by each participant, and one for each day of the month of April leading up to the Royal Wedding. After the big day, the doves will be individually packaged up, and when William and Kate open the doves, they will also discover a card handwritten by the artist wishing the couple greetings.
The doves do look gorgeous and it has been estimated that between five and seven thousand people have seen them since they went on display at the beginning of April.
