Mandy Parslow
‘Light shifts across the land altering colour, form and texture; varying by the minute, by the season. Marks left by human endeavour punctuate these changes; ploughed fields, meandering paths. Some of these patterns describe ancient cultural landscapes; others show current activity as place continues to be shaped by man and nature.
My practice explores a sense of place through landscape and objects. Forms evolve from the vernacular containers and tools of rural life now preserved in museums. Conserved behind glass, no longer utilitarian, they resonate for different reasons. Rims act like horizons; the liminal space between land and sky, between internal and external.
An exploration of the vessel and the unpredictable technique of wood-firing seem fitting ways to examine these concerns. The rootedness, physicality and close attention over a long time required by the kiln echoes a farmer’s knowledge and bond to the land and provides a link with my rural heritage. The firing appears to physically embed place in the work. Each piece is both caressed and assaulted by the flame, ash and salt vapour moving through the kiln in the intense heat of the firing. Their surfaces are a record of this journey.’
Mandy Parslow moved to her current studio in the Glen of Aherlow in 1999, where she specializes in wood-fired salt glazed stoneware ceramics, building her present kiln in 2006. In 1994 she graduated in Ceramics from Cardiff School of Art and Design and in 2010 completed an MA at the University of Limerick. In recent years Mandy has combined her ceramic making with lecturing finding that each practice enriches and strengthens the other. She is currently Course Leader on the BA (Hons) Design, Ceramics course at Limerick School of Art and Design and is a member of the International Academy of Ceramics.
Collections
2016 Keramikmuseum Westerwald, Germany
2016 Latvia International Ceramics Biennale, Latvia
2015 Department of Foreign Affairs
2011 National Museums of Northern Ireland, Ulster Museum
2011 Irish Pavilion, FuLe International Ceramic Art Museums (FLICAM), Fuping, China
2010 Consulate General of Ireland, Shanghai, China
2009 Department of Foreign Affairs / Irish Embassies Collection
2005 Department of Foreign Affairs / Irish Embassies Collection
Numerous private collections nationally and internationally
Selected Awards
2013 2013 |
Irish Ceramics Award, Mill Cove Gallery
Crafts Council of Ireland Award, Mill Cove Gallery |
2011 |
Culture Ireland Award towards month long residency in Fuping, China |
2009 20042003 |
First prize, Ceramics (traditional), RDS National Crafts Competition Michael Casson Memorial award, Art in Clay, BritainCraft Potters Society of Ireland/Scarva pottery supplies travel bursary |
Selected Exhibitions
Solo Exhibitions
2009 |
Hay Makers Gallery, Hay-on-Wye, England |
2006 |
Rufford Ceramics Centre, Nr Newark, Nottinghamshire, England |
Group Exhibitions and Fairs
2014 |
Down to Earth, Craft Centre & Design Gallery, Leeds, England |
Irish Craft Portfolio, RHA, Dublin, Ireland (also 2013, 2011, 2010) |
Centred, Farmleigh Gallery, Dublin, Ireland |
2013 |
Bricks in the Rain, Farmleigh Gallery, Dublin, Ireland |
2012 |
Vessels, Cill Rialaig Arts Centre, Co. Kerry, Ireland |
Ceramic Art London, Royal College of Art, London, UK |
2011 |
transFORM, Farmleigh Gallery, Dublin and Touring |
2010 |
COLLECT, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK |
Irish Pavilion, World Expo, Shanghai, China |
2009 |
Prize-winners exhibition, RDS National Crafts Competition, Dublin and Touring |
2008 |
SOFA Chicago, USA, Pottering in the kitchen, Model House Gallery, Wales |
2007 |
17 Prime Makers, Farmleigh Gallery, Dublin; Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Wales |
Clay 14, Woodbury Studio Gallery, Devon, UK |
2006 |
Collectors, Hunt Museum, Limerick; National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny |
Autour de la Table, Giroussens, France |
2005 |
Collectors at Hunt Museum, Limerick |
Gallery Representation
Mill Cove Gallery, Castletownbere, Co. Cork
Sliding Rock Contemporary Ceramics, Spiddal, Co. Galway
Contact Details:
Mandy Parslow
Clonbeg Lodge
Glen of Aherlow
Co. Tipperary
T. +353 62 56011
E. mandy@parslowpottery.com
www.parslowpottery.com