Large Whirl #1 + Pebble Cup in Orange + Pebble Pendant in Aqua + Small Whirl #4
When it comes to objects, there’s really Shape & Material. Well I grant you there is also this great dynamic duo called “Form & Function” but let’s just stick to the “Shape & Material” thing. Indeed, you can have the most wonderful color, if the shapes and materials are not right, then it’s just useless, it will never be right.
Kim Westad, since she expresses her art with clay, should know about materials. She used to be a graphic designer but she says her life changed when she decided to take a pottery class. And anyone over the age of 5 having one day put their hands into clay will understand exactly what she means. Because with these arts that require some technique either it’s like some Big Revelation, or more often than not, you just suck at it and you know it will take quite some time before you make anything more than heart-shaped ashtrays - if you ever do. (And although I have had some urges to try myself at the stuff, as you may have guessed to my great dismay I somehow am stuck in the latter category.)
So Kim Westad has this thing with clay, and she also has this great sense of “shape”. To be honest I am not fond of all her creations (some of them are a bit too classical for my taste) but the ones I like I really love. I find her Whirls Collection, and most of all her “Large whirl #1″ - the white ones being my favorites anyway - amazing. Those pieces have a powerful architectural quality (she herself acknowledges to the architectural influences, and they definitely arouse images of the Guggenheim in New York or of some of Niemeyer’s works) and an impressive simplicity about them that make them look more like sculptures than mere decorating objects.
Her Pebbles Cups in Orange or in Chocolate, her Pebble Bowls, Sweet Peas and Votive Holders are also very nice.
She is currently living and working in New York but she ships internationally.
She has been an Etsy Featured Seller in June 2007.
You might also want to read her interview on Crafty Synergy (a great blog I discovered writing this article).
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Tags: architecture, bowl, brown, ceramics, chocolate, cup, dishware, etsy, homeware, mug, new york, orange, vase, white
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