Ceramicist Stephen Bird was born in Stoke-on-Trent and spent much of his childhood playing amongst the broken moulds discarded by the Allied Insulators factory close to his home.  Growing up near to the Potteries led to him seeing ceramics as something that supported a whole community and these industrial traditions have influenced his work both in his imagery and in the way he does not emphasise technique at the expense of the need to communicate.

Now living and working in Dundee, he uses a wide range of sources in his work, including Staffordshire figurines, religious iconography and Manga comics creating his own vision of ‘folk’ art which is moral and banal, sacred and profane.

He explains “I make artifacts which toy with convention. By presenting superstitions doctrines and dogmas, revealed in all their absurdity, I try to show that which brings us together rather than what separates us. I try to reveal personal, emotional narratives by combining thing which are obviously fantasy, things that are real and domestic, along with black humour.

“I like my work to disorientate and confuse at first and then to slowly reveal events and characters that punctuate your journey as you traverse a course through both the familiar and the strange.”

Stephen graduated from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in 1987 and completed a post graduate at Cyprus College of Art.   As well as taking part in group exhibitions and holding solo shows he has completed several artist residencies and commissions and at the beginning of his career different travel awards enabled him to visit New York, Italy, Holland, Belgium and Barcelona.

In 2004 he explored work within the context of disability and created two new works for Woodlands and Hazelwood schools in Aberdeen.

He has won the Dundee Visual Arts Award, Aberdeen artists design award and the Shell Expo Award this year.  He is being represented by Australian Contemporary at SOFA Chicago from 8 to 13 November 2006 and is holding a solo exhibition of new ceramics at the Scottish Gallery, Dundas Street, Edinburgh from 6 to 29 November 2006.