10 Canadian Ceramic Artists That Need to Be on Your Radar

Inspired by the strong women in her family, multi-media Inuit artist Gayle Uyagaqi Kabloona often uses imagery of women in her art. While respecting traditional Inuit methods and knowledge, she sees through a contemporary lens in her prints and pottery.

Having first studied archaeology in Alberta, Sarah Ritchie‘s path diverged into ceramics, and continues to be informed by a love of history and nature. Her unique From Hands of SJR luminaries, mugs and wall hangings, embossed with bugs and beetles, have the feel of antique naturalist drawings.

Equal parts whimsy and political commentary, Carole Epp’s ceramic pieces have a story to tell. Making both functional and sculptural objects, this Saskatoon-based ceramic artist has exhibited internationally, and is the cofounder of Make and Do ceramics, a Canadian collective that promotes Canadian ceramics around the world.

Using clay, paint and light, artist Meg Hubert has crafted more than 2,500 of these black and white porcelain shades. Sought after by interior designers, Hubert’s curved pendant lamps light up multiple Tacofino taco hotspots in her Vancouver hometown, as well as the Radison Blu Hotel in Bucharest, Romania.

Nostalgia, prose and all things vintage are just a few of the areas that inspire ceramic artist April Gates. From her Haliburton, ON, based studio/shop/school, Gates weaves together storytelling and a stylized Muskoka landscape into her bold ceramic pieces.

While studying metal work at Kootenay School of the Arts in Nelson, B.C., Heather Dynes Smit also began to play with clay. Her metal studies continue to inform her ceramic work, where she hand-builds soft slabs and uses her wood-fired kiln located north of Toronto. Her functional ceramic work also has a highly sculptural quality to it, expertly combining the best of both worlds.

Originally from New Brunswick (but currently based in Montreal), Janice Cormier uses the natural landscape elements of all the places she’s called home to inform her work. Foraging clays, natural materials and other minerals, her one-of-a-kind vessels and sculptures are organic in material and in design.

Emigrating from South Korea and currently based in Winnipeg, ceramic artist Grace Han uses traditional Korean techniques, such as a kick wheel and large floor slabs, both requiring a ton of physical strength. Her large-scale ceramic sculptures and installations are contrasted by the creation of her delicate pottery pieces.

Albertan ceramic artist Juliana Rempel translates the bold lines and muted pastels of the Prairie landscape into geometric clay puzzle pieces for her wall art. Her functional pottery follows a similar pattern, celebrating her home province and its environment, both natural and manmade.

Since Michael Flaherty’s Wild Cove Pottery studio/gallery is perched right on the edge of Port Union’s harbour in Newfoundland and Labrador, it’s no surprise that the sea plays a big part in his process. Making unconventional glazes from minerals processed from locally harvested sea shells, beach sand, and sea salt, his pottery pieces not only reflect the ocean but are the ocean.