Kate Fitzharris
{{Short description|Potter in New Zealand}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}}
{{Use New Zealand English|date=June 2021}}
Kate Fitzharris (born 1974) is a New Zealand ceramicist. She is mostly known for her doll-like figures, and although working primarily in ceramics, also incorporates found materials. She has won three Portage Ceramic Merit Awards, and has held the Doris Lusk Residency, the Tylee Cottage Residency and a residency at Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park in Japan.
{{Infobox artist
| name = Kate Fitzharris
| education = Otago Polytechnic
| awards = Portage Ceramic Merit Award 2002, 2010, 2014
Doris Lusk Ceramics Residency 2017
Tylee Cottage Residency
Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park residency
}}
Education
Fitzharris was born in Wellington in 1974 and is based in Waitati, outside Dunedin in the South Island of New Zealand. She works part-time as a librarian.{{Cite web|date=2018-03-29|title=Sarjeant Gallery welcomes the new Tylee Cottage Artist-in-Residence, ceramicist Kate Fitzharris and her ambition to create a 'Library of Things' {{!}} Sarjeant Gallery Whanganui|url=https://sarjeant.org.nz/ceramicist-kate-fitzharris/|access-date=2021-06-19|language=en-NZ|archive-date=24 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624200433/https://sarjeant.org.nz/ceramicist-kate-fitzharris/|url-status=live}} Fitzharris graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a major in ceramics from the Otago Polytechnic School of Art.
Career
Fitzharris is mostly known for her handbuilt doll-like figures, and although working primarily in ceramics also incorporates found materials.{{Cite web|title=Masterworks Gallery :: Kate Fitzharris|url=http://www.masterworksgallery.co.nz/artists1/ceramics/kate-fitzharris/|access-date=2021-06-19|website=www.masterworksgallery.co.nz|archive-date=15 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210215193132/https://www.masterworksgallery.co.nz/artists1/ceramics/kate-fitzharris/|url-status=live}}
Fitzharris won Merit Awards at the Portage Ceramic Awards in 2002, 2010 and 2014.{{Cite web|title=Kate Fitzharris - Gallery 33|url=https://nzartsite.com/artists/kate-fitzharris.html|access-date=2021-06-19|website=nzartsite.com|archive-date=24 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624200545/https://nzartsite.com/artists/kate-fitzharris.html|url-status=live}} She also won the People's Choice Award at the New Zealand Potters exhibition in 2010.{{Cite journal|date=June 2010|title=People and Exhibits from Fusion Dunedin 2010|journal=Ceramics Quarterly|volume=30|issue=2|pages=11}}
In 2011, Fitzharris had an exhibition called "Walk" at the Blue Oyster Art Project Space in Dunedin. Fitzharris mostly works in ceramics, but for Walk she travelled by foot from her home in Waitati to the gallery in central Dunedin, using beeswax to make small beads as she went, and incorporating found materials.{{Cite web|title=Kate Fitzharris - Blue Oyster Art Project Space|url=http://www.blueoyster.org.nz/exhibitions/kate-fitzharris/|access-date=2021-06-19|website=www.blueoyster.org.nz|archive-date=24 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624200135/http://www.blueoyster.org.nz/exhibitions/kate-fitzharris/|url-status=live}}
In 2017, Fitzharris won the Doris Lusk Ceramics Residency.{{Cite web|date=August 24, 2017|title=Doris Lusk Ceramics Residency awarded to Kate Fitzharris {{!}} Scoop News|url=https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/ED1708/S00085/doris-lusk-ceramics-residency-awarded-to-kate-fitzharris.htm|access-date=2021-06-19|website=www.scoop.co.nz|archive-date=24 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624200711/https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/ED1708/S00085/doris-lusk-ceramics-residency-awarded-to-kate-fitzharris.htm|url-status=live}}
Fitzharris won a Tylee Cottage Residency in 2018, during which she invited local residents to share significant ceramic pieces with her, to create a "library of things" for her to respond to with her own work.{{Cite web|title=Artist Kate Fitzharris wants to see a few of your favourite things|url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/whanganui-chronicle/news/artist-kate-fitzharris-wants-to-see-a-few-of-your-favourite-things/RLAN53BWUEYA7QUJ4FBOYBL3U4/|access-date=2021-06-19|website=The New Zealand Herald |language=en-NZ|archive-date=24 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624201309/https://www.nzherald.co.nz/whanganui-chronicle/news/artist-kate-fitzharris-wants-to-see-a-few-of-your-favourite-things/RLAN53BWUEYA7QUJ4FBOYBL3U4/|url-status=live}} The resulting exhibition "things don't end at their edges" was shown at the Serjeant Gallery from March to June 2019.{{Cite web|date=2019-02-21|title=Kate Fitzharris: Things Don't End at Their Edges / 16 Mar – 9 Jun 2019 {{!}} Sarjeant Gallery Whanganui|url=https://sarjeant.org.nz/gallery/kate-fitzharris-things-dont-end-at-their-edges/|access-date=2021-06-19|language=en-NZ|archive-date=24 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624200425/https://sarjeant.org.nz/gallery/kate-fitzharris-things-dont-end-at-their-edges/|url-status=live}}
Fitzharris spent much of 2019 as artist in residence at Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park in Japan, exploring traditional Japanese ceramic techniques and finishes.{{Cite web|last=Dignan|first=James|date=2020-03-12|title=Arts Seen: March 12th|url=https://www.odt.co.nz/entertainment/arts/arts-seen-march-12th|access-date=2021-06-19|website=Otago Daily Times |language=en|archive-date=24 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624201943/https://www.odt.co.nz/entertainment/arts/arts-seen-march-12th|url-status=live}} She was also a finalist for the Wallace Arts Trust Awards in 2019.{{Cite web|title=New Work by Kate Fitzharris - Dunedin - Eventfinda|url=https://www.eventfinda.co.nz/2020/new-work-by-kate-fitzharris/dunedin|access-date=2021-06-19|website=www.eventfinda.co.nz|archive-date=24 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624200258/https://www.eventfinda.co.nz/2020/new-work-by-kate-fitzharris/dunedin|url-status=live}}
Her work is held in the collections of the Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park Foundation, the Dowse Art Museum, the James Wallace Arts Trust, and the Waikato Museum.
Exhibitions
Personal life
References
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Category:People from the Wellington Region