Katie Nelis

As a fine art graduate based in Glasgow, I work with clay to explore concepts surrounding the connection between memory and place. Revisiting specific sites informs my ceramic practice as I focus on movement and materiality. I uniquely capture the lines and colours within the landscape by staining clay, whilst rhythms and change in the land inspire the process.

Q&A

Artist Statement

Physically and rhythmically working in the earth, in communion with others, Katie Nelis cultivates a shared experience that helps her process the embodiment of trauma. Her work is about listening – connecting rhythms of hurting and healing in the land with those in the body. This is emphasised by the physicality of rolling, folding and staining the clay. By layering different colours of clay then carving away the murky surface to expose hidden details, Katie conveys the layering and uncovering of memories, mirroring a similar process of erosion and deposition in the landscape. Interested in the impressions that place form on our lives, Katies work is often site specific complimenting her research into memory and place. Experiments with alternative firing methods empowers her to explore the revisiting, re-experiencing and reclaiming of the body.

What craft do you work with?

Whilst studying Fine Art at DJCAD I discovered my obsession with clay through a project where I was experimenting with plaster and other materials. I wanted to explore a specific technique in a new material so went straight in with clay stains. Focusing on textures and colours within the clay I made small flat tiles and folded and collaged them together, later becoming more interested in hand building and throwing. Staining and handbuilding individual coils into an organic sculptural form is my favourite technique.

What inspires you to work with this craft?

I am interested in creating work that starts conversations, telling a story through the ceramics and preserving the importance of the process. The makers personal connection to material matters, the durations aspect of making ceramics has an impact of the themes I explore. Using local and natural materials within the pit firings creates an impression that I am making in communion with the earth and there is reciprocity between material and maker and body and land.

How do you start your creative process?

Memories written in the landscape can trigger a bodily reaction before the mind is cognitively aware of the unfolding situation. I want to suggest that healing begins by listening to the body. My creative process begins by listening to the material, through making and playing. I observe features in the land, a loch or fallen tree, and connect these with personal experiences. Conversations are the foundation of the process and through reflection and revisiting I begin to connect themes and refine techniques that resonate