Foreword by Philip Hughes

FOREWORD

Five sisters & a family tree is a new body of ceramics from Susan O’Byrne. It offers a very personal journey into a private world. “I’m taking inspiration from my own family history, specifically my mother’s side of the family who migrated from Germany to Ireland in the mid 1800s. The five sisters are my grandmother and her four sisters. They will each be represented by a ceramic animal, and are the largest pieces in the exhibition.” Susan writes: “Our childhoods are filled with animal images, their many names, shapes, colours and patterns fuel our early imaginations. Throughout history animals have also been used in storytelling, legend and folklore to simplify the complexities of adult life. In the same manner, I use the animal form as a vehicle for the expression of human emotions.”

Born in Cork, Ireland, Susan O’Byrne moved to Scotland to take up a place at Edinburgh College of Art in 1994. Graduating in 1999 with a FirstClass Honours Degree in Design and Applied Art, a Post Graduate Diploma in ceramics followed. Shortly after this Susan moved west to set up her ceramic studio practice in Glasgow. She has exhibited widely, been an artist in residence, and also manages to find time to lead many award winning community art projects. Susan has been the recipient of many awards and commendations, among them a Scottish Arts Council Setting Up Grant and a Craft Potters Association Charitable Trust Fund Award to undertake a drawing and research trip to Kenya. The development and realisation of the new work for this exhibition has been supported by a Creative Scotland Small Project Fund Grant. Professor of Classical Art and Archaeology at Glasgow University, Elizabeth Moignard, visited Susan in her Glasgow studio and writes overleaf.

Philip Hughes Director, Ruthin Craft Centre, 2015