Debra Kuzyk

Blackburnian Warbler Bowl, 2024, 14”h x 18” diameter, stoneware, coil built with sculpted birds, underglaze and glaze surfaces

Earth Bowl, 2023, 12” h x 18” diameter, porcelain, coil-built with sculpted animal finials, incised exterior with copper carbonate inlay, painted underglaze, and glazed interior.

Bittern, 2024, 15” h x 24” x 24”, 5 parts, paperclay stoneware, handbuilt with porcelain slip, oxides and glazes.

Forest Hare, 2024, 18” h x 4” x 8”, stoneware, handbuilt with underglaze and glaze surface decoration

Robin vase, 2023, 18” h x 12” diam., porcelain, coil built and carved with underglaze

Flowering Blanding’s Turtle, 2024, 2.5” h x 6” x 5”, porcelain, hand built with underglaze

Artist Statement

My sculptures focus on the animal-human relationship by looking at Nova Scotian wildlife and the local implications of the environmental crisis. There is a psychological and physical connection between the vulnerability and fragility of ceramics and that of the natural world. Clay comes from the Earth and the Earth is my topic in the largest sense. In this way, there is a beautiful synchronicity between my topic and my medium.

As a ceramicist, I belong to an ancient lineage. Potters work with their hands in clay to form objects, which, most often, outlive them. These vitrified works become messages to future generations. I take this responsibility seriously and am determined to make work that is both meaningful and beautiful.

Biography

Debra Kuzyk (she/they) is currently residing in Kespukwitk, Mi’kma’ki, Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. She studied at the University of Saskatchewan (BED 1980), Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (BFA 1983) and the Banff Centre for the Arts (1988-89). Together with Ray Mackie she established Lucky Rabbit Pottery studio and gallery in 1999. Their collaborative ceramic work has been exhibited nationally and internationally and is in numerous public and private collections. In 2023 Debra began her solo career as a ceramic sculptor.