Kiya Nancarrow

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A visit with Kiya always leaves you with a smile on your face. This rather reclusive artist lives with her very, very old cat on Waiheke. She spends most of her time in her studio, where said cat hogs the heater and Kiya puts on 3 jumpers instead of moving the cat away. She is fascinated by organic shapes and forms, by old and found objects that show the marks of history. As such, her studio is like a museum to her brain, her inspiration and the start of each piece that ends in your home. She is cool! ARTFORM.

Currently in the gallery…

Feature 

Originally this took my interest when training in Buddhist Psychotherapy. There is something reassuring in this sense of continuum, when life seems made up of beginnings, endings, stages, ages... the flow of energy continues.

This style of making became the basis of my visual language for exploring what was felt or perceived. The work has become more dynamic and visually expressive over time with new experiences thrown in to the mix.

Clay is a wonderfully responsive material (with a contrary side). I enjoy creating a sense of movement and/or energy in an otherwise fairly stolid material.

I hope that the viewer's eye will flow around the form with little sense of beginning, ending, or interruption.

I use stoneware clay with a combination of throwing and hand building. Each piece is made as an individual before being partnered with another to complete the form. Some can stand alone. The surface is painted/sprayed with terra sigallatta(clay slip) and/or underglaze. They are fired to 1100 degrees (and 1260 degrees for outdoor pieces)  All the forms are one-off's.