Artist Statement
Orlaith Ross has always been captivated by materiality of clay and believes that there is something essentially spiritual about it. Having been drawn to the fact that it is both ancient and contemporary and it is the imagination and hands that can control it, yet at the same time it still has an unpredictability. While she has experimented with numerous techniques and materials and she feels it is very important to keep pushing the boundaries of clay and its advancements while protecting and maintaining the history of ceramics and the history of craft.
Her previous work explored decay and regeneration of the urban landscape and its relationship with space and time. Taking inspiration from urban and archaic architecture, her work investigated the decay and regeneration of the city that surrounds the urbanite. Her current investigations delves into the crumbling Celtic Tiger Empire and the homes, houses and architecture that has been left abandoned and disintegration. In creating work she aims to highlight and juxtapose the once ?ourishing construction industry and the fragments that resulted in its demise.
Orlaith continues to work mainly in porcelain in order to capture the fragility that is empathetic to the buildings lamentable beauty that she has encapsulate. The screen printed paper-thin porcelain panels are an attempt to capture the buildings and the memories they contain which disperse with the progression of time. There is a continuous battle between the old and new.
Shows and Exhibitions
April 2011 Solo Exhibition
Dunamaise Arts Centre, Portlaoise.
October 2010 International Exhibition of Small Forms Porcelain. The Riga Porcelain Museum, Riga Latvia.
September 2010 The New Generation, 'Atelier d'Ateliers d'Art de France, Paris, France.
September 2010 Preview Circuits céramiques, stand Ateliers d’Art de France, Maison & Objet, Paris, France
August 2010 Orlaith Ross-Solo Exhibtion, ICSHU Gallery Kescememet Hungary.
November 2009 Future Makers Showcase, National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny
September 2009 RDS Student Art Traveling Exhibition.
Aug 2009- RDS National Craft Competition, RDS Concert Hall, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4.
June 2009- NCAD Graduate Exhibition 2009, 100 Thomas St. Dublin 8.
Awards
Irish Emerging Maker of the Year 2009 Awarded by Crafts Council of Ireland/Irish Arts Review
RDS Student Arts Award Highly Commended 2009
Qualifications
Arts Management and Cultural Policy
University College Dublin, Ireland
2012
BA Art and Design Education
National College of Art and Design
2009
Contact Details
Ireland
+353 857464876
orlaith@orlaithross.comww.orlaithross.com