Christy Keeney

Christy Keeney studied ceramics at the Royal College of Art in London and now lives and works in Ireland.

Influenced as much by sculpture as by traditional ceramics, his work brings together elements of draughtsmanship, form, and surface to create distinctive figurative pieces. His practice explores the human condition, with elongated and expressive forms that sit between drawing and sculpture.

Keeney spent many years working in London, including a commission with sculptor Eduardo Paolozzi on a portrait of Richard Rodgers for an exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in 1988, before returning to his native Donegal. His sculpted, slab-built heads and figures are notable for their linear detail, often drawn directly into the clay, giving each piece a strong sense of character and immediacy.

Artist Statement:

“I visited a retrospective exhibition of Picasso at the Tate Gallery in the early 80s when I was at college, and many of my influences came from seeing that work. Especially a collection of small card-board cut-out and folded, figurative sculptures. These simple two dimensional pieces opened a world of possibilities on how I would approach my own work.”

Christy Keeney

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