Kyla Strid

Bio

Kyla Strid received her BFA in Ceramics from the University of Alaska Anchorage and an MFA from Ohio University. She has been awarded residencies at the Clay Studio of Missoula, Red Lodge Clay Center, Guldagergaard (Denmark), the Lawrence Arts Center, Haystack, Penland School of Crafts, and Skopelos Foundation for the Arts (Greece). Kyla has extensive professional experience working as a studio technician, studio manager, gallery manager, and curator at various institutions across the country. She has also consulted on an archeological dig of a Minoan Pottery Workshop on the island of Crete.

Kyla lives in Lawrence, Kansas and is the Director of Residencies and Adult Education at the Lawrence Arts Center. Outside of her ceramic studio, she is an avid gardener, foodie, runner, and part time printmaker. Currently, she is learning about sustainable building practices while renovating a split level garage that will be her studio.

Artist Statement

I strive for a refined simplicity in my handmade pots inspired by everyday occurrences, mostly in the garden and kitchen. My pots exist in the background of daily life and are meant to elevate whatever they are holding—be it wine, food or flowers, utensils, or a pile of clementines. 

The rhythms of the day to day are mirrored in the repetitive nature of producing multiple forms with subtle variations. I think of myself as a tinkerer in the studio, adjusting a form here and there when I throw one piece after another. The subtle and individual nuances of each form often are riffs on historical pots I have studied. I like to blend the historical forms with my design sensibilities in much the same way I like to blend plant motifs, textures, and line work in my surfaces. In blending these references I hope to give anyone using my pots a reason to linger with them.