Profile

Statement:
‘The potter’s wheel is what first attracted me to working with clay and it is central to the way I work. Pieces are usually altered, either directly on the wheel, or at later stages of the making, but always when the clay is flexible, giving the work character and movement. Pieces are salt fired in a wood fuelled kiln over 24 hours to 1300 degrees centigrade. The decorative and firing techniques used aim to retain the vitality of the freshly made vessels and to give the surfaces subtlety and depth.
Inspiration comes from a multitude of sources - the area I live in, its mountains and the ever varying colours on them as the light shifts. From found objects such as stones, bones and shells and from the making process itself, the tactile nature of clay and time spent experimenting with form and surface.
My current work has evolved from an investigation of museum objects. The interplay and changed status of items that were once functional but are now viewed on an aesthetic basis fascinates me. The strong shapes of tools from the prehistoric age inspire much of my recent work with axe heads being a particular influence.’

Biography:
On completing an honours degree in three-dimensional design, Ceramics at Cardiff School of Art and Design, Mandy returned to Wexford -her home county - to establish her studio pottery in 1994. She moved to her current studio and showroom, a renovated gate-lodge, in 1999. Here Mandy specializes in salt-glazed stoneware, building her current wood-fired kiln in 2006. Her award winning work is represented in public and private collections in Ireland, the UK and Europe including the Department of Foreign Affairs Collection, Dublin. She has exhibited widely throughout Ireland and abroad, including SOFA, Chicago in 2008 and Collect, Saatchi Galleries, London in 2010. In 2010 she completed an MA in the History of Art and Architecture.

Selected Group Exhibitions:

2011
transFORM, Farmleigh Gallery, Dublin, Millennium Court Arts Centre, Portadown & The Gallery, Limerick School of Art and Design (LIT), Limerick.
Irish Craft Portfolio, National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny & Farmleigh Gallery, Dublin.

2010
Collect, Saatchi Galleries, London
Irish Pavilion, World Expo, Shanghai, China
Irish Craft Portfolio, National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny & Farmleigh Gallery, Dublin

2009
Prize-winners exhibition, RDS National Crafts Competition, Dublin and Touring, Ireland

2008
SOFA, Navy Pier, Chicago, USA
Pottering in the kitchen, Model House Gallery, Wales

2007
17 Prime Makers, Farmleigh Gallery, Dublin and Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Wales
Clay 14, Woodbury Studio Gallery, Exeter, Devon, England

2006
Collectors at Hunt Museum, Limerick, Ireland
Collectors at the National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny, Ireland
Autour de la Table, Giroussens, France

2005
Collectors at Hunt Museum, Limerick, Ireland
Christmas Presence, RDS, Dublin, Ireland

2004
Christmas Presence, RDS, Dublin, Ireland
Bakers Dozen, Roundhouse Gallery, Derbyshire, England
Ceramic Fire Works, Tipperary Institute, Thurles, Ireland
10 Years Later.., St David's Hall, Cardiff, Wales

2002
Winners, National Craft Competition, RDS, Dublin and Touring, Ireland
Winners, National Craft Competition, RDS, Dublin and Touring, Ireland

2001
Winners, National Craft Competition, RDS, Dublin and Touring, Ireland

Solo exhibitions:
2009
Hay Makers Gallery, Hay-on-Wye, England

2006
Rufford Ceramics Centre, Nr Newark Nottinghamshire, England

Public Collections:
Ulster Museum, 2011
Consulate General of Ireland, Shanghai, 2010
Department of Foreign Affairs / Irish Embassy Collection
Hibernian Collection

Awards:
Culture Ireland/ Crafts Council of Ireland, 2011
First prize, Ceramics (traditional), RDS National Crafts Competition, 2009
Michael Casson Memorial award, Art in Clay, Britain, 2004