Jenny Wilson is a first-generation New Zealander of British and Chinese descent. She graduated with a Diploma of Ceramic Art from Otago Polytechnic in 2018. Traversing questions of identity, meaning and belonging, Jenny finds solace in the landscapes and cycles of the natural world.

There are several facets to Jenny’s ceramic practice. She makes sculptural pieces depicting numerous subject matter found in nature including, leaves, caterpillars, cocoons, and fungi. Jenny’s alluring moth sculptures are inspired by her childhood;

“The women of my mother’s family kept silk moths. Remembering her stories, and my ancestors, I have recreated these light mysterious creatures in white porcelain.

The brown clay moths are the moths of my childhood; heavy-bodied dusty beauties beating against cupped hands, or resting on darkened windows.

Some moths are pinned and framed in reference to museum specimens; others rest on circles – an ancient Chinese symbol of the cycles of life, and of the cosmos.”

Jenny also specialises in the Kurinuki technique, a Japanese hand-building method that involves beginning with a solid block of clay and hollowing it to make a form. Jenny’s resulting angular, organic-looking vessels are each unique and highly appealing.

“Created using the Japanese technique of kurinuki (carving out), these vessels remind me of the cycles of destruction and creation in the earth beneath my feet. Living on the lower slopes of Banks Peninsula, the shearing force of earthquakes has particular salience.” – Jenny Wilson