Irene is a Glasgow-based ceramic artist with over 40 years of experience. She recently retired from her role as Head of Product Design at the Glasgow School of Art to dedicate herself entirely to her artistic practice.

Her career includes exhibitions across Britain and internationally, collaborations with artists, designers, and architects on various commissions and installations, and her work is held in several collections.

Irene creates dynamic artworks that explore the relationship between edge and plane. Her current practice involves slabs of clay forming small sculptural compositions that evoke architectural forms from an aerial view or intimate still life. She describes her approach as “drawing with edges,” emphasising the placement of edge, plane, and form, and the tensions among them. She works with raw, unglazed surfaces, using texture and shadow to create tonal variation in her pieces.
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‘My work begins with drawing, using simple mark-making and collage to generate compositions that I interpret as clay slab constructions. I allow the material's behaviour to guide the development of each piece. The joy for me lies in the making process, knowing when to ‘untouch’ the clay and embracing the material's inherent qualities. Recognising the moment of ‘fizz’ in the tension of a composition is critical to its success and my enjoyment. My work often develops in thematic batches, which evolve through several iterations before sparking new ideas and directions.’