About
Jennifer Alford is an award-winning Irish artist living and working in Scotland.
Jennifer grew up in Dublin and studied violin and music at the Royal Irish Academy of Music and University College Dublin. Recognising the value of a strong formal background as a bedrock for improvisation, she trained in the tradition of production pottery at the Craft Council of Ireland’s prestigious Ceramics Skills and Design Course in Thomastown, Ireland.
At the potter’s wheel, she creates contemporary ceramics in porcelain and stoneware. Leveraging abstract creative processes learned through studying and performing music, Jennifer endeavours to allow for moments of chance and the unexpected to find their way into her ceramic practice.
She is a visiting tutor at Edinburgh Ceramics workshop.
Statement
My work explores surface and form, evoking the landscape through elemental glazes and instinctive mark-making.
All vessels become canvasses for gestural brushwork and bold incisions. Depending on the temperament of the piece, marks range from spontaneous incisions to abstract imagery. Colours and patterns found in the natural and urban landscapes inform my glaze palette and imagery. Locally foraged clays echo the colours of the land.
“When mark-making, I lose myself in the process. I experience a sense of exhilaration which I endeavour to retain in the energy of the final piece.”
Collections
Permanent collection, National Museum of Ireland (Dublin, Ireland)
Awards / Residencies
2023
Artist in Residence - Historic Environment Scotland (HES) & CRAFT SCOTLAND
Visual Artist and Craft Maker Award
Scottish Landscape Awards [Longlist]
2021
Craft Scotland - Compass Emerging Maker Programme
2020
Design and Craft Council of Ireland - Future Maker Award
Exhibitions & Galleries
UPCOMING:
June 2024
Potfest, Scone Palace (Perth, Scotland)
May 2024
Strathmore Open Studios (Angus, Scotland)
2024
Visual Arts Scotland Centenary Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy (Edinburgh, Scotland)
Open Eye Gallery (Edinburgh, Scotland)
2023
All the Joy, Tatha Gallery (Newport-on-Tay, Scotland)
Making History, Brechin Townhouse Museum (Brechin, Scotland)
Making History, Scottish Storytelling Centre (Edinburgh, Scotland)
Strathmore Open Studios, (Angus Scotland)
Gallery Ten, (Edinburgh, Scotland)
2022
Autumn Showcase, The Barn Gallery (Perth, Scotland)
Strathmore Open Studios, (Angus Scotland)
Wild Clay, World Congress of Soil Science, SEC (Glasgow, Scotland)
Potfest, Scone Palace (Perth, Scotland)
2021
InForm, National Museum of Ireland (Dublin, Ireland)
Table Talk, Blue Egg Gallery (Wexford, Ireland)
2020
Hand to Hand, National Craft and Design Gallery (Kilkenny, Ireland)
2019
Clay/Works Ceramics Ireland, The Printworks, Dublin Castle (Dublin, Ireland)
Summer Exhibition, Grennan Mill (Thomastown, Ireland)