Michael FLYNN

View in collection Born in Germany, he spent some of his early childhood on a farm in Ireland. He initially studied fine art and was a painter however he returned to study ceramics at Cardiff College of Art (1975-78) under Alan Barrett-Danes. His highly distinctive figurative ceramics draw inspiration from such diverse sources as Meissen figurines, expressionist art and the gestural ceramics of Peter Voulkos. Using a variety of ceramic techniques including raku, terracotta and porcelain he also occasionally works in bronze. His sculptures explore the dangerous nature of male/female relationships with suggestions of lust, violence, joy and ecstasy. His work is inspired by stories, myth and legend which he incorporates in to his work, e.g. Harlequin, Crow (Ted Hughes) and  the Red Shoes from Hans Christian Anderson. He has a studio in Cardiff but also spends parts of the year in Europe, mainly Germany, where he works in artist residencies teaching and running workshops. He is author of Ceramic Figures: A Directory of Artists, A & C Black, 2002. He received a Creative Walles Award in 2008.

Details

• Dates: b.1947