QUICK FACTS

How many years have you been working as a clay artist? About 7 years.

What is your main clay body that you currently use? Brown Bear from Kentucky Mudworks

What is the primary method you use for building your work? Handbuilding with slab and coil, and finished with sgraffito

What is your favorite studio tool? Probably this double-ended tool I won at a costume contest at NCECA years ago. It has a knife on one end and few serrated teeth on the other; it's everything I need in one tool for cutting and scoring. 

Do you have any future clay wishes or dreams? I dream of making, teaching and giving back to the community. I want to help make the arts more accessible for everyone.

ARTIST STATEMENT

There are two main inspirations for my work: my experience working in restaurants and bars, and my personal connections to people, places, and objects. It is because of my time in the service industry that I have gained an appreciation for food and beverage, how it is prepared, served, and shared. It is the many moments and memories I have with the people I love and care for that inspire the imagery in my work. 

The nourishment and libations that we share together inspire the vessels I make; cheese and fruit on small plates, neat spirits poured into sippers, water fills the carafes, and so on. My surface decoration is my attempt to document my memories and experiences onto a material that will long outlive my existence. I like to layer my work with symbolism; every pattern, form, and image have a specific role to play in the stories I tell. I use a refined slip that when applied in layers can result in varying opacity- like the memory.

BIOGRAPHY

BORN: Louisville, KY | USA

Autumn McKay is from Louisville, Kentucky, where she received her BFA from the University of Louisville in 2017. Following undergrad, McKay was selected to be a part of the first cohort of the Hadley Creatives grant program in Louisville, KY. This program aimed to assist artists in developing marketing and business skills, alongside creating connections with artists of varying backgrounds and mediums. McKay would later receive a grant from the Great Meadows Foundation in 2019 that assisted her travels to Vallauris, France, where she was a resident artist at A.I.R Vallauris for three months. During this time she worked alongside international artists, making and learning about the rich history of ceramics in this small coastal town. Upon her return back to the United States, McKay accepted a short residency at HOBA house in the Portland neighborhood of Louisville. In 2021, she was accepted into the post-bacc program at IUS and began her exploration of handbuilt pottery. 

Currently, she is focused on handbuilding pottery that stimulates the viewer through touch and imagery, often calling on memories of people, places, or objects. McKay aims to find common ground with the viewer and their own memories or stories associated with the imagery. She takes heavy consideration for the feel and hold of each pot, aiming to create a hold that provides comfort and a moment of pause.