Initially working in fashion, Carol McNicoll went on to study an MA in Ceramics at the Royal College of Art between 1970-73, where she was part of a group of innovative ceramic artists who graduated from the RCA at that time and went on to transform the British ceramics scene.
Early Years
Her father was an engineer who worked in India and brought many rugs from there to the family home in Birmingham, where she grew up.
Her mother, in turn, loved fashion and was the one who taught her how to sew.
It is not strange to realize that her use of patterns in ceramics stems in part from her love of textiles probably instilled in her by her parents.
Career
Carol studied Fine Art, before completing a Masters degree at the Royal College of Art.
She also worked for fashion designer Zandra Rhodes sewing her clothes and both designed and made the stage costumes for the English band Roxy Music.
Own style
Carol McNicoll's works often take functional, domestic objects, such as jugs, teapots, teacups and bowls, and transform them into sculptural objects with richly patterned surfaces.
Her work can be called rebelliously ornamental.
The domestic space
For most people, the domestic space is a place of sanctity, warmth and comfort. Carol subverts this idea and makes a kind of confession in these pieces about the issues that both irritate and amuse her.
Her ceramic works are conceived to exist in the internal domestic sphere, while also taking on external elements of the world.
She says: “For me, the home is the most demanding and exciting environment in which to put in the work.”
Carol’s house itself is particularly an extension of her ceramics work. For example, there is a staircase lined with olive oil cans. She collects objects, often chosen from charity shops, to adorn different parts of her home.
Political issues
Her outburst into the outside world comes when she touches on political issues with her artwork: clay became a medium through which she could criticize the Iraq War or cultural imperialism, expressed in various ways through the integration of toy soldiers and Coca-Cola bottles into her sculptures.
In “Home Sweet Home,” the idealized and nostalgic rural imagery of the dish and the soldiers’ floral-print clothing combine to make an ironic commentary on romanticized views of the English landscape and national identity.
Recognition
Mc Nicoll exhibited widely in Britain and Europe and her work was collected by the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
In 2003, the New Walk Museum and Art Gallery, Leicester, presented a major retrospective of her work. Carol McNicoll currently lives and works in London.
In light of this story, I leave you with a question for reflection: Is being authentic in our expression in the world not in itself a political act?