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©Paul Hammond
©Judy McKenzie
©Judy McKenzie
©Judy McKenzie

Judy Mckenzie

  • Ceramicist
  • Brentwood, United Kingdom
  • Rising Star
Judy Mckenzie Ceramicist
©Judy McKenzie

The patterns of nerikomi

  • • Judy came to ceramics as a second career
  • • She holds an MA in Ceramics and Glass from the Royal College of Art
  • • Traditional Japanese nerikomi and kintsugi techniques are central to her creations

Completing her BA in 2015 and then her MA at the Royal College of Art in 2018, Judy McKenzie embraced her biggest passion and started creating ceramics full-time later in life. She makes unique, hand-formed ceramic objects with coloured porcelain, using the thousand-year-old nerikomi technique. Each piece is constructed using several individual parts or slabs of different coloured clays. Judy's artisan path is an inspiring example of following your dreams. Today her award-winning ceramic objects can be found in public galleries and private collections. “Ceramics encapsulate what I love about creating with my hands,” says Judy and adds that “making a ceramic form is a remarkable gift”.

Read the full interview

Works

  • ©Paul Hammond
  • ©Paul Hammond
  • ©Paul Hammond
  • ©Paul Hammond
  • ©Paul Hammond
Photo: ©Paul Hammond
Yellow pastel bowl

This colourful bowl has a joyous mix of yellows, pinks, greens, and greys, with a splash of bright orange. The inspiration comes from the glorious borders of a summer garden. Judy McKenzie uses a small silver kintsugi repair to emphasise that there can be lasting beauty and strength in something that is imperfect.

Photo: ©Paul Hammond
Small Nerikomi bowl

This is a hand-formed bowl made using a tebineri process. A flat disc of coloured and patterned porcelain was made using murrine in a very limited palette of blacks, greys, Naples yellow, and red. The pattern runs all the way through the material. No glaze is used, and the work is polished to create a silky smooth, tactile surface.

Photo: ©Paul Hammond
Blue sea and sky

This vase is inspired by the beaches of Norfolk. This object is an artisan’s interpretation of the beach, crashing waves, and cloudy sky. Porcelain is coloured with ceramic stains to achieve the colours of the beach and sky, and gradations of colour are used to create the tonal hues of clouds and the sea. It has an asymmetrical shape.

Photo: ©Paul Hammond
Open Nerikomi bowl

This is a porcelain bowl with pink, green, grey, and acid yellow ceramic marks. The porcelain echoes the tonal colours of lichen. During the creation, the murrine are positioned side by side to reveal their subtle colour tones and pattern, and then compressed together to create a singular piece of material from which a bowl is formed.

Photo: ©Paul Hammond
Sky Scape platter

This flat platter was created with coloured porcelain and the colour has been gradated to achieve a subtle blending of tones. The porcelain emulates clouds. Silver has been applied to fissures. The piece is polished with diamond pads to create a silky smooth, tactile surface.

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