Kirsty O’Connor

A practising artist for many years, I completed my formal training with a first class honours degree from The University of the Highlands and Islands, as one of the first three graduates in 2019, of Lews Castle College’s Taigh Chearsabhagh campus.

I make ceramic sculptural pieces, smoke-fired in sawdust and seaweed, as well as work in other media. Soul Vessels are inspired by the beautiful wooden boats built by five generations of the Stewart family on Grimsay and the mythical significance, in many cultures including the Celtic, of the boat as carrier of the souls of the dead. Other sculptural pieces and drawings explore and celebrate aspects of female embodiment and womanhood.