Design & Crafts Council Ireland is proud to announce From the Ground Up: The Transformation of Irish Clay, an exhibition that celebrates the vitality, ambition, and global significance of contemporary Irish ceramics.

From the Ground Up: The Transformation of Irish Clay brings together forty-three of Ireland’s leading ceramic artists, representing over a thousand years of combined experience, creativity, and craftsmanship. Collectively, they embody the extraordinary strength, diversity, and vitality of Irish ceramics today. Each artist brings a unique voice and individual vision to the exhibition, yet all are united by a profound and shared respect for material, process, and place—an understanding that clay is not simply a medium, but a living connection between earth, maker, and culture.

Together, these artists trace the evolution of Irish clay from its deep and ancient local roots to its confident presence on the international stage. Their practices span generations, techniques, and philosophies, reflecting both continuity and innovation within the field. The featured artists have worked and exhibited extensively—across Ireland and throughout the world, including Europe, the United States, South America, Japan, China and India. These international engagements underscore the global significance of Irish ceramics today: a discipline that is proudly grounded in locality while actively contributing to worldwide conversations in art, design, material culture, and sustainability.

This exhibition celebrates not only the technical mastery, dedication, and innovation that define these makers but also the powerful narratives carried within their work. Through clay, they tell stories of landscape and language, of heritage and experimentation, of memory, identity, and transformation. Some works echo the rugged Atlantic coastline or the quiet resilience of rural communities; others push material boundaries in bold and contemporary directions. All are rooted in a deep engagement with the land and the cultural memory embedded within it.

Grounded in the Irish earth yet open to the world, From the Ground Up: The Transformation of Irish Clay affirms Ireland’s vibrant and evolving place within the ever-expanding global conversation of contemporary ceramics. It stands as both a celebration of achievement and a testament to the enduring power of clay as a medium of expression—ancient in origin, yet continually renewed through the hands and imagination of today’s artists.

John Goode, Curator.

Meet the Artists