Biography
Debra Kuzyk is a ceramic artist living in rural Mi’kma’ki/Nova Scotia, where she creates colorful and celebratory work about local wildlife. The grandchild of Ukrainian immigrants, she gained an appreciation for nature from her father and grandmother during summers spent beside a lake in North-central Saskatchewan.
She holds a BED from the University of Saskatchewan and BFA from NSCAD University and completed a one-year residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.
Within her ceramic practice, she skillfully merges her passion for ornamentation and ancient ceramics with her love of Nature. She specifically draws inspiration from the lively and free-flowing work in the ancient pots of the Minoans, the masterful Cizhou ware of China, Iznik ware of Turkey and the bold representations of animals in pre-Columbian ceramics. She combines these interests with her deep concern about the impacts of a disappearing wilderness on wildlife, which is occurring both locally and globally.
In 1999 she and potter Ray Mackie created Lucky Rabbit studio and gallery in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia. Their work was exhibited nationally and internationally, including at the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery, the Gardiner Museum, SOFA Chicago and the Canadian Pavilion, Cheongju International Craft Biennale.
They were awarded the Established Artist Recognition Award by the Nova Scotia Arts and Culture Partnership and are included in collections at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, the Rooms, the Gardiner Museum, the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery and The Permanent Collection of Contemporary Ceramics, Burlington Art Centre. They are included in the newly published “Craft & Craftism, a Biographical Dictionary of Contemporary Ceramic Artists in Canada” by Concordia University, Montreal.
In 2017 Debra established and coordinated Lucky Rabbit & Co. Artists’ Collective which housed and exhibited the work of local artists and received an Industry Leadership/Supporter Award in 2022.
In 2023, Debra closed Lucky Rabbit and embarked on a solo career. A Creation Grant from Arts Nova Scotia enabled her to complete two terms as Artist-in-Residence at the Museum of Natural History in Halifax, where she will exhibit in the future. She has participated in exhibitions within Canada and was included in the Craft Alliance Atlantic exhibition “HERE & NOW” at Collect 2024, London UK.
View my CV here, you download it as a PDF here.
Artist’s Statement
I believe in the power and beauty of handmade objects. They contain a vitality which endures, and my appreciation for them grows over time. A pottery vase, for example, can only be experienced by exploring it dynamically. It cannot be viewed in its entirety at one time. Ceramic art can hold the fingerprints of the maker for thousands of years, transporting them to different realms and future generations.
In my work I combine my love of ornamentation, ceramic history and Nature. From my Ukrainian ancestors I inherited a delight in color, pattern and playful expression. Perhaps subconsciously, my ancestors have also led me to become a defender of the weak and a voice for the silent ones.
My ceramics teacher, Walter Ostrom, encouraged me to study ceramic history and reinterpret it to reflect my own environment and life experiences. I have continued that assignment to this day, by creating work about the wildlife that surrounds me in rural Nova Scotia. My fascination with animals and animal imagery has been with me since childhood. In my sculptures I’m trying to create an image which traps a kind of animal truth. Sometimes the clay magic happens, and the animal “comes alive”.
As the climate crisis accelerates, I think about the wildlife that is cleared from the land as we extract resources, pollute and develop. We humans cause immense suffering and endangerment to these animals, and they cannot survive. This moment is a threshold for the future of coexistence, health and balance.
My chosen medium of clay with its fragile fired state is an excellent material for expressing the vulnerability of the natural world. Clay comes from the Earth. It is the material of life; the universal matter associated with many creation stories. The tactile quality of wet clay echoes the touch of the earth, malleable and responsive. Vitrified ceramics possess a remarkable durability, with objects from ancient cultures often lasting for millennia. Yet clay in its fired state is extremely fragile. This mirrors the precarious existence of endangered species and ecosystems in our changing world.
The process of creating these works is as important to me as the finished piece itself. I work in silence, listening to bird calls outside my studio window. I sculpt between daily walks in an old forest or around a saltwater marsh, and it is during those times that I often receive my ideas. The process is then one of trying to recreate an image I saw in a flash. I also create as a way of bearing witness to my times, to the animals that co-exist in this era, and perhaps to send a record of their likeness to future generations.
