Mary Kaun EnglishMary, originally from California, is a contemporary ceramicist who has always been amazed by the strength, diversity and beauty of the natural world; she is also concerned for its vulnerability. Using inspiration gained from the rugged Cornish landscape, she expresses this in her work; using abstract forms and vessels to capture the visual chemical essence of the smoke and fire on their surface. The energy of the elements leaves the work with depth and a narrative.
The firing of Mary's pieces occurs in an open-air earthen pit exposing the porous clay to the smoke given off by the organic materials used. It is intrinsic to her work that she uses only sustainable and locally sourced materials in this tradition method of firing.
Mary is a full member and Treasurer of the Penwith Society of Artists in Cornwall, founded in 1949 by Barbara Hepworth and Bernard Leach, amongst others.
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