Mikey Walsh - "Extraordinary Ordinary; Commission for LWCC"
2024, 17" x 8" wall, individual items variable, Media: Earthenware / Terracotta, Firing Process: Low-fire, Surface: Engobe / Slip / Underglaze, Glazed
Commission for Louisiana Workers Compensation Corporation headquarters, Baton Rouge, LA Handbuilt ceramic sculpture earthenware, varies in size overall 17” x 8’ dimensions. January 2024 Photographer Heather McClelland
2024, 17" x 8" wall, individual items variable, Media: Earthenware / Terracotta, Firing Process: Low-fire, Surface: Engobe / Slip / Underglaze, Glazed
Commission for Louisiana Workers Compensation Corporation headquarters, Baton Rouge, LA Handbuilt ceramic sculpture earthenware, varies in size overall 17” x 8’ dimensions. January 2024 Photographer Heather McClelland
Mikey Walsh - "Extraordinary Ordinary Detail: Hanger"
2024, 11"w x 8"t x 4"d, Media: Earthenware / Terracotta, Firing Process: Electric, Low-fire
Louisiana Workers Compensation Corporation/LWCC Headquarters, Baton Rouge, LA Handbuilt ceramic sculpture earthenware, detail of Hanger. January 2024 Photographer Heather McClelland
2024, 11"w x 8"t x 4"d, Media: Earthenware / Terracotta, Firing Process: Electric, Low-fire
Louisiana Workers Compensation Corporation/LWCC Headquarters, Baton Rouge, LA Handbuilt ceramic sculpture earthenware, detail of Hanger. January 2024 Photographer Heather McClelland
Mikey Walsh - "LWCC"
2024, 9"w x 7"t x 2"d,Firing Process: Electric, Low-fire
Detail object from Louisiana Workers Compensation Corporation Headquarters, Baton Rouge, LA Handbuilt ceramic sculpture, earthenware, Utility Cover LA January 2024 Photographer Heather McClelland
2024, 9"w x 7"t x 2"d,Firing Process: Electric, Low-fire
Detail object from Louisiana Workers Compensation Corporation Headquarters, Baton Rouge, LA Handbuilt ceramic sculpture, earthenware, Utility Cover LA January 2024 Photographer Heather McClelland
Mikey Walsh - "Donor Wall for The Cary Saurage Community Arts Center, Baton Rouge, LA"
2021, 17' x 10' x 4' appx, individual pieces vary, Media: Earthenware / Terracotta, Wild Clay/Raw Clay, Firing Process: Electric, Low-fire, Surface: Glazed
Commissioned design by artist to honor donors for a new arts center. Slip cast and hand-built ceramic wall mounted blocks, birds and hand dug-clay vessels. August, 2021 Photographer Kevin Duffy, Baton Rouge, LA
2021, 17' x 10' x 4' appx, individual pieces vary, Media: Earthenware / Terracotta, Wild Clay/Raw Clay, Firing Process: Electric, Low-fire, Surface: Glazed
Commissioned design by artist to honor donors for a new arts center. Slip cast and hand-built ceramic wall mounted blocks, birds and hand dug-clay vessels. August, 2021 Photographer Kevin Duffy, Baton Rouge, LA
Mikey Walsh - "Detail of Donor Wall for The Cary Saurage Community Arts Center, Baton Rouge, LA"
2021, dimensions variable, range from 5"x5" to 12",Firing Process: Electric, Low-fire
Detail of Donor Wall for The Cary Saurage Community Arts Center, Baton Rouge, LA Slip cast and hand-built ceramic wall mounted blocks, birds and vessels. August, 2021 Photographer Kevin Duffy, Baton Rouge, LA
2021, dimensions variable, range from 5"x5" to 12",Firing Process: Electric, Low-fire
Detail of Donor Wall for The Cary Saurage Community Arts Center, Baton Rouge, LA Slip cast and hand-built ceramic wall mounted blocks, birds and vessels. August, 2021 Photographer Kevin Duffy, Baton Rouge, LA
Mikey Walsh - "Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital, St. Jude Affiliate Clinic, Baton Rouge, LA"
2019, Individual Pencils are 22"w x 3" t,Firing Process: Electric, Low-fire
Commission for Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital, St. Jude Affiliate Clinic Baton Rouge, LA Hand built and slip cast ceramic sculpture, varies in size. August, 2019 Photographer Kevin Duffy, Baton Rouge, LA
2019, Individual Pencils are 22"w x 3" t,Firing Process: Electric, Low-fire
Commission for Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital, St. Jude Affiliate Clinic Baton Rouge, LA Hand built and slip cast ceramic sculpture, varies in size. August, 2019 Photographer Kevin Duffy, Baton Rouge, LA
Mikey Walsh - "Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital, St. Jude Affiliate Clinic Entry"
2019, Dimensions variable,Firing Process: Electric, Low-fire
Entry Desk to Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital, St. Jude Affiliate Clinic Baton Rouge, LA Hand built and slip cast ceramic sculpture, varies in size. Photographer Kevin Duffy, Baton Rouge, LA
2019, Dimensions variable,Firing Process: Electric, Low-fire
Entry Desk to Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital, St. Jude Affiliate Clinic Baton Rouge, LA Hand built and slip cast ceramic sculpture, varies in size. Photographer Kevin Duffy, Baton Rouge, LA
Mikey Walsh - "Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital, St. Jude Affiliate Clinic, Baton Rouge, LA"
2019, Variable,Firing Process: Electric, Low-fire
Family Waiting Area: Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital, St. Jude Affiliate Clinic Baton Rouge, LA Hand built and slip cast ceramic sculpture, varies in size. August, 2019 Photographer Kevin Duffy, Baton Rouge, LA
2019, Variable,Firing Process: Electric, Low-fire
Family Waiting Area: Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital, St. Jude Affiliate Clinic Baton Rouge, LA Hand built and slip cast ceramic sculpture, varies in size. August, 2019 Photographer Kevin Duffy, Baton Rouge, LA
Mikey Walsh - "Family Waiting Area: Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital, St. Jude Affiliate Clinic Baton Rouge, LA"
2019, Variable up to 12" in one direction.,Firing Process: Electric, Low-fire
Detail of Family Waiting. Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital Baton Rouge, LA Hand built and slip cast ceramic sculpture, varies in size. August, 2019 Photographer Kevin Duffy, Baton Rouge, LA
2019, Variable up to 12" in one direction.,Firing Process: Electric, Low-fire
Detail of Family Waiting. Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital Baton Rouge, LA Hand built and slip cast ceramic sculpture, varies in size. August, 2019 Photographer Kevin Duffy, Baton Rouge, LA
Mikey Walsh - "Necco Wafer Cups"
2017, cups are appx. 4" tall,Firing Process: Electric, Low-fire, Surface: Glazed, Lustre
NECCO candy-colored-cups. Majolica with stains. Handbuilt. 2017 Kevin Duffy Photographer
2017, cups are appx. 4" tall,Firing Process: Electric, Low-fire, Surface: Glazed, Lustre
NECCO candy-colored-cups. Majolica with stains. Handbuilt. 2017 Kevin Duffy Photographer
Artist Statement
Since 2019 I have been working exclusively on commissioned works. The general intention with these installations was to meld my aesthetic and formal sensibilities (and my joy in making) with the intentions, visions and needs of the commissioning organizations. Each commission has presented the opportunity for a unique collaboration, with each- a new territory for meaning-making, adapting and challenging my skills to benefit the greater good.
That said, a more general artist statement or mindset-about-making follows:
The permanent nature of ceramics lends itself to containment of many sorts. My works contain divergent qualities; sweetness and sadness, lightness and weight; tangible reminders of life's plain and simple joys, as well as life's bittersweet attendants – impermanence and loss. An ice cream cone, a gift bow, an old stuffed toy or the temporary moment a bird alights upon a snowball; each image made permanent embodies an ephemeral quality I seek to capture and hold still for.
I’m influenced by poetry, where relationships between words/images shift and coalesce in such a way that something fresh or exciting is felt; what once felt common suddenly feels uncommon, what initially appeared ordinary strangely moves us. If, for a small moment, a configuration of objects I have arranged can be held onto as meaningful in a similar way- my work has achieved its aim.
Bio
Michaelene/ Mikey Walsh received her BFA in Crafts from the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign and her MFA from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred, NY. She is currently an Associate Professor at the Louisiana State University School of Art. She lives with her family in Baton Rouge in a vibrant neighborhood full of interesting and lovely people.
Mikey has been the recipient of several Louisiana Division of the Arts Grants and a Percent for Art Commission. Her sculptural ceramic work is on permanent display in the Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital’s St. Jude Clinic as well as several other locations around Louisiana. Mikey’s work is featured in the publications The Figure in Clay by Lark Books and The Human Figure in Clay by the American Ceramic Society.