Biography
Joshua Kerley is an award-winning artist, designer, and educator specialising in kiln-glass. He graduated from the Royal College of Art’s MA Ceramics & Glass programme in 2019, and studied BA Contemporary Crafts at Falmouth University, graduating in 2011. He exhibits regularly at an international level and is represented by Bullseye Projects, USA. Recent shows have included Heart of Glass at Galerie Handwerk, Munich and Channelling: Outset Studiomakers Corridor at Frieze London. Since the completion of his MA, Kerley has been awarded the Tiffany & Co. Studiomakers Prize and the Glass Art Society Saxe Emerging Artist Prize. Examples of Kerley’s work are held in the permanent collection of the Special Collections Museum at Manchester Metropolitan University and the Ernsting Foundation’s Glass Museum in Coesfeld, Germany. His work has been featured in publications including Crafts Magazine and Neues Glas. Kerley currently works from a studio in rural Wiltshire and holds the position of senior lecturer (glass) at the University of the Creative Arts Farnham.
Statement
My practice is informed by the rich heritage of material imitation within the glass making industry. Utilising an extensive and innovative range of kiln-glass techniques, I make objects that are inherently un-glass-like, and instead mimic the physical properties of other materials. In doing so I aim to reassess the traditional perceptions of glass technically, aesthetically, and materially. With a practice that moves deftly between art, design and craft, I make sculptural and interior objects that transcend traditional boundaries, arouse curiosity, and moreover, challenge our comprehension of the material world.