2019 Emerging Artist: Dawn Candy Ceramics Monthly

Appears in the May 2019 issue of Ceramics Monthly.

Dawn Candy, Red Deer, Alberta, Canada

Dawn Candy’s functional body of ceramic forms is inspired by rhythm, pattern, and landscape—both wild and cultivated. Vines grow on trellises, tall grasses blow in the wind, and large flower blooms brighten the cobalt-washed surfaces. Candy often references what she calls “the natural theatre of wind whipped grasses, turbulent skies or melting ice and snow.” Her imagery articulates change, growth, erosion, order, and disorder. She attempts to tame that growing chaos of nature by instilling organized pattern and boundaries in and around the blooms; grounding the natural order of the world into something more manageable and controllable.

Light washes of blue and black cover the porcelain surfaces and settle in the cracks and crevices, giving the pieces a sense of calm and peace. Her raised slip-trailed lines spiderweb across the forms adding to the overall visual movement that the user discovers surrounding the pots. Although each piece conveys a sense of elegance, it is the wonder and playfulness of the making process that shines through.