Blue Migration

About Blue Migration

This contemporary porcelain blue vessel is by Paula Murray.

Paula Murray’s elegant sculptural artwork is inspired by forms and patterns found in nature. Her sublime sculptural ceramics are intended to reflect the deeply spiritual connection between humans, culture, and the natural world.
This is one of a series of vessels she has created; its undulating shape, hand-built from Jingdezhen porcelain. Cobalt metal salts provide the strikingly deep blue colour on the exterior that migrates to the fissures inside the bowl, adding contrast to the white finish. Its organic form displays her signature—fine craquelure or ruptures of the surface defined by a darker color inside, adding subtle texture and definition outside.

“Sometimes it is through being cracked open that we are put back together with more interest, depth and character. I induce movement in my cast porcelain forms through the juxtaposition of clay and surface-veil fiberglass. I am manipulating and responding to the work as the stress twists and cracks my forms as they dry.” Paula Murray

“Look inside and outside each vessel: the smooth and rough textures, the fractures, the ripples, and the wrinkles connote pulsating veins, muscles, flaws, and defects.” Rachel Gottlieb, Ceramics Curator

Paula Murray was born in Ottawa and studied science at the University of Ottawa and ceramics at Sheridan College. Elected to the International Academy of Ceramics (2017) and the Royal Canadian Academy of the Arts (2006), she has based her full-time studio practice from Meech Lake, in Gatineau Park since 1980.

Exhibiting in prestigious exhibitions in Canada, Italy, China, Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Portugal, Romania and the USA, she has received several awards and creation grants.

In 2021, Paula Murray was awarded one of the highest honours granted by the Quebec government in recognition of an exceptional career in the arts—the Prix d’excellence from le Conseil des métiers d’art du Québec. In 2022, she received the Kito Prize at the Jingdezhen International Ceramics Biennale in China.

Public collections include the World Korean Ceramic Foundation Museum, Yingge Ceramic Museum, Taiwan, Museum of Ceramics, Faenza, Italy, Canada House, London, UK, and in Canada, the Gardiner Museum, Museum of History, and Art Bank.