Kinetic Link, 2018

Wheel Thrown Ceramic and Underglaze |  18 x 10 x 4"

Kate Metten distinctive creations have been featured at Vancouver Art Gallery, Polygon Gallery, Wil Aballe Art Projects, and the Museum of Vancouver, as well as internationally through Simons Fabrique 1840, NCECA, and British Vogue. Recipient of the 2023 Judson Beaumont BC Achievement Award in Applied Art and Design, Metten continues to explore the threshold between utility and art — where a mug becomes a conversation, and a vessel becomes a field of light, colour, and meaning.

Kate Metten works at the intersection of painting and ceramics, blurring material hierarchies with formal abstraction. Her practice moves fluidly between the studio and the exhibition space, balancing a body of contemporary artwork with a line of hand-thrown tableware that redefines the rituals of everyday use. Rooted in West Coast Modernism and informed by years of material research, Metten’s ceramics are both functional and sculptural — vessels that embody precision, rhythm, and touch. Each piece reflects her commitment to the handmade as a form of quiet resistance to mass production and disposability by incorporating site specific materials as a gesture reflecting on the politics of land use.

Kinetic link is designed to be held and played like a puzzle, allowing visitors to move a ceramic ball through the interior course of the vessel.

So much of how we understand ceramics involves engagement and handling; these works push the boundaries of wheel throwing into a conceptual realm by inventing new functions for the vessel.

©Kate Metten. All rights reserved. Usage, reproduction, or altering of artwork is not permitted without permission. Each piece of artwork is intellectual property and is protected by copyright law.