Keira Norton – Ceramic Artist

Keira Norton:

For the past several years, Keira Norton has been making sculptures depicting human/animal hybrids. Keira Norton views each piece as part of a narrative drawn from the physical and metaphorical connections between particular types of animals and aspects of the human condition. The artist is currently combining the supple forms and playful gestures of dolphins and whales with seductively posed human figures to create a series of peculiar exhibitionists. Keira Norton intends them as somewhat humorous representations of the contradictory forces at play in conventional ideas about beauty and sexual attraction. Their ambiguous nature has allowed them to evolve over time from many sources, including folklore, popular culture, and art history. For example, the influences for a half-dolphin female character Keira Norton calls “La Encantada” includes tales of mermaids from the Amazon, classic pin-up girls, and the nudes of Ingres and Manet.  

Artist Statement:

“Recently, I have been studying snub-nosed monkeys, and instead of focusing on their more obvious grotesqueness, have been inspired to capture their quiet watchfulness in small-scale portraits for the wall. Creating hybrids gives me the opportunity to be rigorous in my observations and playful in my interpretations.  I am also continually inspired by my desire to mimic and invent forms and textures using the raw materials of clay and glaze.”

 

EDUCATION

MFA, Ceramics, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 2010

BFA, Ceramics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, Magna Cum Laude, 2004

BA, Anthropology, Minor in Studio Arts, SUNY New Paltz, New Paltz, NY, 1998

 

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2015

Open Studio, Coohaus Gallery/Art Mora, New York, NY (one-person)

2014     

Untitled, The Paul Watkins Gallery, Winona State University, Winona MN (upcoming 2-person)

Bananas, The Trap Gallery, Kansas City MO (upcoming 2-person)

Clay3 2014 National Juried Ceramics Exhibition, ClaySpace Ceramics Art Center, Lisle, IL (group)

Currents: Mixtus National Exhibition, Focus Gallery, University of Florida, Gainsville FL (group)

2013                             

Jo Kamm and Keira Norton, Resident Artist Exit Exhibition, Red Star Studios, Kansas City, MO (2person)

Reunion: Work from Artists in Residence, Past and Present, Red Star Studios, Kansas City, MO (group)

2012                              

On Display: Exploring Body Image, The Greenlease Gallery, Rockhurst University, Kansas City MO (group)

The Figure Untamed: Desire as Resistance, Bowman-Penelec-Megahan Gallery, Allegheny College, Meadville, PA (three-person)

2011                              

Women Exposed Sixth Annual Exhibition, Every Body: Form, Formlessness, and Transfiguration, Gallery 101, Bloomington, IN (group)

Indiana University Alumni 3-D Series, Part II, The Low Road Gallery, Greencastle, IN (three person)

2010                              

The Devotion Show, Gallery 101, Bloomington, IN (group)

Graduate Thesis Exhibition: Las Encantadas, SoFA Gallery, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN (solo)

The National Student Juried Exhibition, NCECA, Rosenwald Wolf Gallery at The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA. (group)

2009                              

Untitled, The Fuller Projects, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN (solo)

2006                              

Untitled, ROY G BIV Gallery, Columbus, OH (three-person)

2005                              

The Ohio Art League Annual Juried Fall Exhibition, Cultural Arts Center, Columbus, OH (group)  

2004                              

The Ohio Art League Annual Juried Spring Exhibition, Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH  (group)

Undergraduate Thesis Exhibition, The Peninsula Gallery, Columbus, OH (solo)

 

 

COLLECTIONS

Permanent Collection, The Kinsey Institute, Bloomington, IN 

Private Collection, Dick Belger and Evelyn Craft-Belger, Kansas City, MO

 

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

2014

Ceramics and Mixed Media Instructor, Afterschool Program, Spring and Summer Art Camp,

Teen Art Camp, “Art Expressions” Middle School Program, Mattie Rhodes Art Center, Kansas

City, MO 

2013 

Ceramics and Mixed Media Instructor, Afterschool Program, Spring and Summer Art Camp,

Teen Art Camp, Mattie Rhodes Art Center, Kansas City, MO 

Instructor, Youth Clay Class, Kids’ and Parents’ Clay Class, “MakeMobile” Educational Outreach

Program, RedStar Studios, Kansas City, MO  

2012 

Ceramics and Mixed Media Instructor, Afterschool Program, Spring and Summer Art Camp, “Art

Expressions” Middle School Program, Mattie Rhodes Art Center, Kansas City, MO 

Instructor, Adult Clay Handbuilding Class, Youth Clay Class, Kids’ and Parents’ Clay Class,

“MakeMobile” Educational Outreach Program, RedStar Studios, Kansas City, MO

2011 

Ceramics and Mixed Media Instructor, Afterschool Program, Mattie Rhodes Art Center, Kansas

City, MO 

Ceramics and Mixed Media Instructor, Ivy Arts Summer Kids Camp, The John Waldron Arts

Center, Bloomington, IN 

Adjunct Instructor, Ivy Tech Community College, Bloomington, IN 

2010

Adjunct Instructor, Ivy Tech Community College, Bloomington, IN 

2009-2010

Associate Instructor, Beginning Ceramics (Instructor of Record) Henry Radford Hope School of Fine Arts, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 

2008

Associate Instructor, Studio Foundations for Non-Majors (Instructor of Record) Henry Radford Hope School of Fine Arts, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN

 

RELATED EXPERIENCE

2015

Presenter, “Hollow and Solid Clay Sculpting Techniques” Workshop, Hashinger Hall, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS (upcoming-Spring 2015)

2014 

Presenter/Instructor, Exhibition, Artist’s Talk, Undergraduate Critiques, Art Department, Winona

State University, Winona, MN  

2013

Presenter, “Sculpting an Animal Head” Workshop, RedStar Studios, Kansas City, MO  

2012 

Presenter/Instructor, Artist’s Talk, Undergraduate Critiques, Art Department, Allegheny College,

Meadville, PA 

2011 

Ceramic Studio Technician, Ivy Tech Community College, Bloomington, IN 

2007-2008 

Ceramic Studio Graduate Assistant Technician, School of Fine Arts, Indiana University,

Bloomington, IN 

2002-2004 

Ceramic Studio Technician’s Assistant, School of Fine Arts, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH

 

AWARDS

2014 

Material Mastery Award, Kansas Artists and Craftsmen Association, Hays KS 

2011

Individual Artist Grant, The Barbara Deming Memorial Fund for Women, Wilton, NH

2010

First Place, Graduate Student Division, NCECA National Student Juried Exhibition, Philadelphia, PA 2009

Assistantship, Penland School of Crafts, Penland, NC

2008

Workstudy Scholarship, Penland School of Crafts, Penland, NC

2007-2010

Full Graduate Assistantship, Ceramics Department, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 2006

Blossom Arts Scholarship, Kent State University, Kent, OH

2005

Assistantship, Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts, Newcastle, ME

Workstudy Scholarship,  Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle, ME

2004

Denman Undergraduate Research Scholarship, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH

Mortar Board National College Senior Honor Society Scholarship, The Ohio State University 2003

Ceramics Department Scholarship, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH

BFA Portfolio Review Scholarship, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH

 

RESIDENCIES 2015

Artist-In-Residence, Coohaus Gallery/Art Mora, New York, NY (one month) 2013

Artist-In-Residence, Pechacek Century Farms, Hastings, MN (one month)

2011-2013

Artist-In-Residence, RedStar Studios, Kansas City, MO (two years)

2009

Penland School of Crafts, Penland, NC (two weeks)

2008

Penland School of Crafts, Penland, NC (two weeks)

2006

Blossom Arts Center, Kent State University, Kent, OH (two weeks)

Winter Resident, Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts, Newcastle, ME (three months)

2005

Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle, ME (two weeks)

Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts, Newcastle, ME (two weeks)

2004

Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle, ME (two weeks)