AUTUMN MCKAY

Autumn McKay is a ceramic artist from Louisville, Kentucky. She received her BFA from the University of Louisville in 2017. Since then, she has attended craft schools as a work study and artist assistant, participated in residency programs nationally and internationally, and studied as a post-bacc student at Indiana University Southeast (2021-23).

Currently, McKay is working as a long-term resident artist and teacher at Queen City Clay in Cincinnati, Ohio. She is focused on making and developing handbuilt pottery that stimulates the viewer through touch and imagery, often calling on her memories of people, places, or objects. Heavily inspired by the powers of education, McKay enjoys teaching and sharing information about clay outside of the academic setting; she believes in providing access to the arts to all.

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 pitchers, and so on. 

My surface decoration is an 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 is applied in layers to get the results of varying transparency- reminiscent to me in the same way that memories can vary in their “transparency” or vividness.