Kirsten Coelho

Born: 1966
Place of Birth: Copenhagen, Denmark

Kirsten Coelho works in porcelain, producing reduction fired works that attempt to fuse the formal and the abstract. More recently her work has been influenced by nineteenth and early twentieth century enamel wares and and the abstracted surface possibilities these objects can show as they begin to age.

Born in Copenhagen in Denmark, Coelho migrated with her parents to Indiana in the United States and then with her mother and brother to Adelaide in 1972. Having graduated from the South Australian School of Art in Adelaide, the eight years (1990–1998) that she subsequently spent living and working in London constituted a profoundly formative period, providing the opportunity for an unprecedented immersion in ceramics – both contemporary and historical. Since returning to Australia in 1998, Kirsten Coelho has completed a Master of Visual Art at the South Australian School of Art and now works from a studio at her home in Adelaide, South Australia.

‘I have always felt drawn to the abstract in art – the potential for understanding through an ambiguous and imperceptible type of knowing. Ceramic objects communicate on many levels and it is these possibilities of engagement and response that I find compelling. The intersection of form, colour, tone and light are the constant drivers.’ - Kirsten Coelho

Public collections include:
Chatsworth House, Derbyshire UK; National Gallery of Australia; Newcastle Art Gallery, Australia; Queensland Art Gallery GOMA, Australia; City of Hobart Tasmania, Australia; Drill Hall Australian National University Canberra ACT, Australia