kurunuki vases

I was honoured to be selected to design the 2026 Art Awards for the City of Charlottetown.

The forms were inspired by the Japanese technique of Kurunuki—carving a vessel from a single block of clay. This method has been part of my practice since I first began working with clay in 2020, when I didn’t yet have access to a pottery wheel. Later, an online workshop with Akira Satake helped deepen my understanding of the process.

Each award began as a 22-lb block of clay, pounded into shape on a cement floor and carved instinctively to resemble weathered stone. Once the outer form was established, the interior was hollowed carefully—too much carving could pierce the walls, too little could risk cracking or exploding in the kiln. The final pieces remain intentionally substantial. The gold-filled cracks that appeared were not part of the original plan, but they became a meaningful part of the story.

The surfaces come from a combination of PEI Wild Clay and Red Maple Ash glazes I’ve been developing over the years, fired in an electric kiln to cone 6 with a controlled cooling cycle.

Designing the mounting system for the acrylic plaques was one of the most technical challenges, as clay shrinks 10–13% during firing. Jonathan at Jewellery Plus in Summerside helped me engineer the final solution and lasered each set screw individually so the plaques would fit perfectly.

Despite the struggles—and a few major pivots to get these pieces on stage—I’m incredibly proud of them. When photographing the finished awards, I’ll admit I cried. They carry the tremendous weight I feel as a young female entrepreneur, alongside the fragility and freedom of being a self-taught emerging artist.

Congratulations to the recipients of the 2026 Art Awards, and thank you to the panel that trusted me to craft them. This project taught me a great deal and will continue to shape my path forward as an artist.