Synapses

About Synapses

This contemporary horizontal wall composition by Paula Murray is composed of blue porcelain discs.

An internationally recognized and collected artist, Paula Murray’s sublime work in clay is highly valued for its original, organic design and refined craftsmanship. Nature often inspires her thought-provoking work and indeed, the 19 deep blue coloured discs in this sculptural wall composition reference both the powerful cyclical patterns found in the natural world and in the vast cosmos--the stars above. “The fragility of porcelain mirrors the earth’s vulnerability in this time of environmental degradation.” Murray’s signature, finely detailed ‘cracks’ appear here in each piece; each having their own unique patterns. “These are not mere surface imperfections; they evoke the fractures in our environment caused by the climate crisis—cracks in glaciers, drought-stricken lands, and the growing imbalance between humanity and nature.” The pierced holes designed to emulate star constellations “offer hope--just as the stars guide us.” The number 19 is also symbolic of “the end of one cycle and the start of another—much like the 19-year Metonic cycle, where lunar phases realign with the solar year.” The patterns of ‘cracks’ on the surface of each disc also connect the pierced holes—a deliberate representation of our own neural synapses responsible for delivering messages from our brain throughout the human body.

“Synapses explores the unseen yet powerful connections that bind us to the earth and each other and …asks us to reflect on our responsibility to the earth, urging us to see the beauty in these fractures not as irreversible, but as reminders of our capacity for healing. Through the cracks, light shines.
Through the breaks, new pathways emerge. And like the constellations, our actions form a map—guiding us toward a future where we can still mend what’s broken.” Paula Murray

“Paula Murray has ... opted for a path that lies out along porcelain’s very fringes. She pushed the dismaterial’s tensile qualities way past their literal and figurative breaking points and in the end created work of enormous beauty, power, and meaning. It all has to do with a willingness to abandon (or at least, put aside) the aesthetic fundamentalism of a purist approach.” Gil McElroy, Art Critic and 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, New Taipei City Yingge Ceramic Museum, Taiwan, Museum of Ceramics, Faenza, Italy, Canada House, London, UK, and in Canada the Gardiner Museum, Museum of History, The Canada Council Art Bank and The Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery.