Nuala Creed

{{Infobox person

| name = Nuala Creed

| birth_date =

| birth_place = Dublin, Ireland

| education = California College of the Arts

| known_for = {{bulleted list|Ceramic Art|Sculpture}}

| spouse =

| website = {{URL|https://www.nualacreed.com/|nualacreed.com

}}

Nuala Creed is an Irish ceramic sculptor living in Northern California, United States. She is known for a series of over 120 Ceramic Archivists, on display as a permanent collection at the Internet Archive in San Francisco. She is also known for her political work.

Early life and education

Born in Dublin, Ireland, Creed lived in London, England, as a young adult,{{cn|date=May 2025}} and then moved to Boston in 1979 where she took courses at Massachusetts College of Art and Design.{{cn|date=May 2025}}

In 1996, she moved to San Francisco, where she earned her BFA at California College of the Arts, graduating with high distinction.{{cn|date=May 2025}}

Career

Creed has worked primarily with the human figure, incorporating themes of childhood, vulnerability, and social issues.{{cn|date=May 2025}}

= Political work =

After being invited to make an ornament (a ceramic hummingbird) for the White House Christmas tree in 2002, Creed began making variations of this work in protest of the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. This led to a series called "Babes in Arms".SOFA New York, 2009.{{better source|date=May 2025}}

Creed's political work has been published in several art books Confrontational Ceramics, by Judith Schwartz, University of Pennsylvania Press, August 11, 2008 (front and back cover, and pages 26 and 27).Ceramics and the Human Figure, by Edith Garcia, A & C Black London, 2012 (pages 96, 97, 98, and 99). and shown in galleries in Europe and the United States.Centered Farmleigh Gallery, Phoenix Park Dublin Ireland, 2014.InCiteful Clay: A touring Museum Exhibition of Contemporary Ceramics, 2013-2017.

= Ceramic Archivists =

Inspired by the Terra Cotta Warriors in China, Internet Archive founder Brewster Kahle invited Creed to begin making figures of employees who have worked at the Archive for three or more years. This series began in 2010, and is currently{{when|date=May 2025}} ongoing.{{cn|date=May 2025}}

Prominent figures such as Ted Nelson, Brewster Kahle, and Aaron Swartz are included in this collection.Steve Jobs, Wikipédia, Snowden : des statues en hommage à Internet, L'OBS avec Rue 89, by Claire Richard, 2014 Thirty-two of these figures were exhibited at "From Clay to Cloud", at Loyola Marymount University's Laband Art Gallery in Los Angeles in 2016.{{cn|date=May 2025}}

IMG_4889_-_Flickr_-_Jason_%22Textfiles%22_Scott.jpg|Internet archivists by Nuala Creed

Ceramic archivists 4879 - Jason Scott.jpg|Brewster Kahle

IA Light Painting Ceramic 3.jpg|Aaron Swartz

Ceramic archivists 4908 - Jason Scott.jpg|June Goldsmith

Ceramic archivists 4859 - Jason Scott.jpg|Peter Brantley

References

External links

{{official|https://www.nualacreed.com/}}
[https://web.archive.org/web/20120114041413/http://internetarchivists.org/ A page about the Ceramic Archivists]
[https://blogs.getty.edu/iris/clay-sculptures-of-archivists-show-the-human-face-of-big-data/ Clay Sculptures of Archivists Show the Human Face of Big Data]
[https://the-magazine.org/34/into-the-labyrinth/#.WHxfU7YrJju/ Into the Labyrinth]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20141108044457/http://rue89.nouvelobs.com/rue89-culture/2014/11/05/steve-jobs-wikipedia-snowden-statues-hommage-a-internet-255874 Steve Jobs, Wikipédia, Snowden : des statues en hommage à Internet]