Will Carey’s’s work in Dear Earth at Kirkcaldy Galleries | Photography © Lydia Smith
Will Carey
Will Carey’s work is inspired by the resilience of plants and their capacity to grow in apparently hostile conditions, through cracks in concrete or with minimal access to soil and water. He sees these plants as signs of hope.
The vases he creates are often paired with bright mid-century pots, reclaimed from an era with a more idealised and optimistic vision of the future. The human-like shapes are connected by wicking cord, drawing and feeding water essential to life – and the vessels are offered as safe and thoughtful sites for plants to grow, where nature can once again reclaim the material world.
Biography
Will Carey is a Glasgow-based ceramicist, designer and grower. Working sculpturally and playfully to create poetic forms, Carey’s work is minimal in nature with a curious narrative and focus on materiality. Through his research, Carey seeks to explore alternative approaches to ceramic design that foreground environmental care.
Carey graduated from the University of Edinburgh MA (Hons) Fine Art course in 2016. After working professionally in producing and communications roles in visual arts organisations throughout Scotland, Carey came to ceramics in 2023 through an evening course and subsequently set up his design practice. Carey’s work is contained in private collections in Scotland and recent group exhibitions include Living Lines & Shifting Forms, N. atelier, Glasgow (2025); and The Thread that Pulls, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh (2025).