Living and working just outside of Paris, Canadian-born artist Kristin McKirdy has been making her way professionally for more than 30 years. Her creations have evolved from simple vessels to contemporary still lifes inspired by nature and architectural sculptures. And now, for her fifth solo show, opening this week at the highly regarded Brussels gallery Pierre Marie Giraud, McKirdy has once again created a body of vibrantly glazed works with her signature, and alternating, rough and sleek surfaces.
At first glance, one might mistake McKirdy’s pieces for non-ceramic creations. However, all of her objects are hand-built in clay and glazed—without molds or mechanical processes of any kind. Her artworks are one of a kind as well. (There are no multiples, and McKirdy never makes the same work twice.) The sleek surfaces and glossy finishes, which have evolved over the years, are apt to throw viewers off balance. "I started as a potter making vessels, and gradually migrated away from them—but never completely," McKirdy tells AD PRO. "Pottery is usually related to the human body and forms, [and] I think of my work as beings. The concept of vessels is always with me.”
For this new exhibit at Pierre Marie Giraud, 25 works will be included. “Every piece has been specifically made for this show," McKirdy explains. "I work on a concept and then orchestrate the entire [exhibition], including the installation. I edit down a few pieces. Everything has to work in terms of an [overall] dynamic."
Continuing on, McKirdy explains that, "the theme this time is nature, and I was inspired by seeds [and] fruit. The pieces are a reflection on how I see things going," she adds, referencing both the environment and the current state of modern-day food. "Sliced apples, seeds with strange colors . . . things that are not very natural” are therefore depicted.
Every show McKirdy produces is different. Usually, she does not title her ceramic works. "I don’t want to direct anyone into any one interpretation," she says. On one hand, her current work is playful with bright colors that contrast sharply with sleek and rough surfaces. On the other hand, McKirdy often conceptualizes her pieces as couples, who are close together yet separated by a split.
In early May, McKirdy’s new works will be shown at TEFAF in New York by her Parisian gallery, Jousse Entreprise. Pierre Marie Giraud, her Belgian representative, will show pieces of hers both at Design Basel in June and Design Miami in December. And after that? “A break!" she says. "I want to perhaps take a year to research and think. No shows. I want to play around with my work and go further with my architectural pieces." (Later, McKirdy adds that she has totems and wall dividers on her mind.)
Nevertheless, her track record indicates that any direction is possible. In 2015, one of McKirdy's collectors asked her to create some pieces of jewelry. “He told me he wanted my sculpture, but smaller, to wear," she says of the interaction. "So, I made small pieces like I had done for wall elements—biomorphic forms with color.” The collector was, however, no ordinary appreciator of McKirdy's work, but actually Kris van Assche, the then creative director for Dior Homme. Twists and turns around every sculptural corner, it would seem.
