Kirsten Coelho

Elegy for Twelve Maidens (2024)

Kirsten work is a quiet hum of balance – a gentle settling moment of knowledge and skill combining and coming to rest on a shore. The refined and simple elegant shapes of Kirsten’s ceramic practice acknowledge histories of vessels, abstract as well as functional design. Her words detail connections to rituals, history, daily practices and the simplicity of human existence.

Kirsten’s work has been exhibited widely both in Australia and internationally. Solo exhibitions include the University of New South Wales School of Art & Design (2021), and an ethereal yet monumental installation, Ithaca, displayed at the University of South Australia’s Samstag Museum of Art (2020).

Kirsten said that she had wonderful art teachers in high school who introduced her to ceramics, and walking into Art School on her first day of commencing her tertiary education she knew she was “absolutely in the right place”.

“It was challenging but something about being there made me feel so relieved at such a deep level. I knew that making things was my anchor.”

Kirsten has followed this path for almost 35 years. As she says, “I feel derailed if I don’t make something”.

With her student days far behind her, Kristen has moved into the role of mentor within the JamFactory in Adelaide and today finds the vitality of new makers and artists to be a breath of inspirational air.

“I get to be with new artists who are so vital and excited in their ideas. It is very inspiring to be around.”

Kirsten is realistic in accepting that there are difficulties in practising a craft in Australia today, but overall she feels positive about the future of making and craft. She sees a brighter tomorrow in the “broader support and new language for craft across so many visual art platforms”.