Dr Kim Bagley

Biography

I am an artist, educator and researcher specialising in the field of ceramics, but interested in broader concerns of culture and materiality. I completed the first practice-led PhD in ceramics at UCA Farnham in 2014 under the supervision of Prof Magdalene Odundo and Prof Simon Olding. My PhD research was concerned with the construction and representation of 'Africanness' and African identities in postcolonial ceramic production and was entitled: Africa and West: a contested dialogue in modern and contemporary ceramics. I worked as a research associate for the Ceramics Research Centre-UK in 2016 doing impact research for the AHRC funded Ceramics in the Expanded Field project at the University of Westminster. From 2019-2022 I was the Making Futures Fellow at Plymouth College of Art, working on research and educational development for the craft sector in the South Caucasus.

My creative practice is predominantly ceramic sculpture and installation, through which I address and explore identities and notions of place. My work is influenced by my own South African background and experience of growing up and training in ceramics in post-1994 South Africa. I am a resident artist at 318 Ceramics in Farnham and have exhibited internationally.

I was a lecturer and MA subject tutor at Plymouth College of Art from 2016-2021 and have taught at UCA Farnham, the University of KwaZulu-Natal and the University of Hertfordshire.