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Kitty Shepherd (b.1960) is a British studio potter and ceramic artist known for her bold use of colour with slip. She describes the natural world and popular iconography in a way that is totally unique in the ceramic discipline. Her studios are based in Granada, Spain.
Fuelled by a global culture, Shepherd is increasingly focused on recording everyday objects and the attachment of emotions that are associated with these items in ceramic. Within her discipline she has become a collector of all kinds of objects and imagery.
Her ideas come to life in her work to form interesting connections between familiar iconic images. The result is a form of art as play, involving the reframing of objects within a world of attention and manipulation of context; a context standing in a metaphorical relation to the world of everyday life. Very Freudian and very fetishistic and entertaining to the viewer.
Shepherd’s training began in the arts, but not in ceramics. Her early passions were for the stage studying primarily voice and drama before she first met clay as a minor subject. From the first beginnings of a ceramics A-Level she went on to study Product and Three-Dimensional Design and
this set her up to make pots for the rest of her life where she continues her passion for slipware and developing her own unique style.
Shepherd’s work is included in public collections including Worthing Museum and Art Gallery; Plymouth City Art Gallery and Museum; CoCA The Centre of Ceramic Art York; Stapflehus Gallery Weil am Rhein Germany and Clarke Hall; Wakefield, Yorkshire. She is represented by Messums, London.
Chichester College Sussex – Drama and Theatre Studies (1978-1980)
City College Brighton – Art Foundation Course (1980)
City College Brighton – H.N.D. 3D industrial Design (1980 – 1982)
Sussex University – Diploma of Education (1995)
Worthing Museum and Art Gallery
Plymouth City Art Gallery and Museum
CoCA The Centre of Ceramic Art York
Stapflehus Gallery Weil am Rhein Germany
Clarke Hall; Wakefield, Yorkshire
FUSION: ANNUAL CONFERENCE The Ontario Clay and Glass Association McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. 31st May. I’ll be on the panel discussing who inspired me, where I trained, how I make my work. All the secrets of my making processes. British Potters Potting 2019
Vessel for Institute of The Ontario Clay and Glass Association
‘Art for the visually impaired’; Six week project working with the RNIB producing a collection of slipware with raised surface and Braille transcripts – 2005
‘Significant Objects’; Six week multimedia project resulting in a touring exhibition of work from refugees and prisoners – 2004
Koestler Trust arts coordinator South East and Wormwood Scrubs – 2003 – 2005
Artist in residence HMP FORD PRISON in conjunction with Central Saint Martins under graduates 2003 – 2005
Castle Howard, Yorkshire London School of Needlework restoration project – 1982