Ceramic artist Etain Hickey has spent decades responding to the rich visual tapestry of her West Cork surroundings. Known for her highly decorated ceramics, she draws inspiration from the rhythms of nature, native flora and fauna, and the patterns that shape both landscape and memory. Her colourful, expressive work combines a love of texture, ornament and storytelling, celebrating the vitality and beauty found in the everyday natural world. Her ceramics have been exhibited nationally and internationally and are included in public and private collections including the Design & Crafts Council Ireland collection, the Ulster Museum and the Fujita Museum in Japan.

For Jim Turner, clay offers an ongoing dialogue with environment, experience and form. A graduate of Camberwell College of Art who has lived and worked in West Cork for over forty years, his sculptural vessels and paper-clay constructions explore texture, geology and the transformative nature of the ceramic process. Influenced by the West Cork landscape and seascape, as well as architecture, ancient pottery traditions and sailing, his work occupies a space between object and landscape, inviting contemplation and discovery.

Working primarily in ink and paper, Laura Wade creates evocative works that explore themes of resilience, wonder and reconnection with nature. Originally from Cork and now based in the west of Ireland, Wade is recognised for her distinctive visual language of silhouettes, shadow forms and delicate geometric interventions. Drawing inspiration from trees, plant life and the quieter aspects of the landscape, her work invites viewers into contemplative spaces where the boundaries between the seen and unseen become fluid and poetic.

Together, these artists present three unique yet complementary perspectives on our relationship with the natural world. Through clay and ink, Grounded in Nature reflects on the enduring influence of landscape on creative practice and offers a thoughtful meditation on place, belonging and the beauty that surrounds us.