Rachel Murphy
“ I like almost every step in the process of making my pieces (with the exception of sanding), however what I enjoy most is the beginning and end stage of the process - designing the piece in my head, what it will look like, the technical process involved in achieving the look. Then at the end, usually after a morning walk, adding the final painted flourish of nature.”
Slip-cast Ceramics
We love...
Rachel captures New Zealand. With her delicately slip-cast ceramics, she then paints a landscape onto each piece. There is not a single person who doesn't reminisce about a place in New Zealand, a coastline walk or a drive along rugged hillside meeting the sea. The colours, the shading, the clouds....they ARE New Zealand in a piece. We are very excited about where this young ceramic artist will go to next! ARTFORM.
Currently in the gallery…
Feature
Rachel Murphy was born in Christchurch but moved when she was a child to Holland with her family for a couple of years. Arriving back in NZ to Auckland, Rachel grew up in the idyllic Titirangi - Waitakere Ranges of Auckland.
As a young adult Rachel lived for a time in Sydney, Australia and then Scotland. She still feels a strong connection to the land, architecture and people of Scotland.
Mostly self taught, Rachel works predominately in porcelain slip casting. Whilst studying a Bachelor of Design, she learned the basic technique of Slip casting from Jo Nuttall - Glass casting Artist in Auckland. Much of Rachel’s skills have been developed over time, through successes and failures and in the case of Gilding, many years of practice.
After 15 years Designing furniture and interiors, with the creation of art as a hobby, it was not until 2012 that Rachel decided to concentrate on ceramics and then in 2014 become a full time artist. Her work is therefore influenced by her design background, through form and in the domestic pieces - functionality.
Rachel considers herself a student of nature and is constantly in awe of the subtleties and extremes of land, sea and air. Her creative process often begins with observations on a walk in the bush or on rugged west coast beaches.