Beyond Words

About Beyond Words

This contemporary white porcelain wall sculpture is by Paula Murray.

Canadian artist Paula Murray is praised by collectors and critics alike for her exquisite craftsmanship and beautiful design. Her clay-fired scroll series—sculptural porcelain pieces that seem to float on the wall is inspired by the idea of how knowledge is both acquired and passed down from one generation to the next. This elegant composition features three rows of nine squares of single hand-rolled scrolls--each ’inscribed’ with Murray’s signature, finely detailed cracks.

The cracks are highlighted by a subtle terracotta red glaze and are designed to emulate text—"a mysterious language.” Murray associates the markings with “tree bark and sacred texts that need to be deciphered.” The scrolls are mounted on a plexiglass base.

“The written word, both sacred and secular, has been inscribed on scrolls over millennia. Scrolls present text in a continuous view with no division, as if to infer a ceaseless unfolding of knowledge. Every porcelain scroll I make writes its own story, with its own language mysteriously appearing.” Paula Murray

“…fusions of near rupture and serene beauty echoing nature and human history in their forms.” Nancy Baele, Art Critic

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 in 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.