Pretty Personal with Aaron Kearney
If Irish eyes are smiling, it’s probably because they’ve spotted one of the talented Irish-born Mr Aaron Kearney’s designs. Once he got tired of overachieving at school (100% for Art & Design in his final year of high school, and Honours from Central Saint Martins) he put his talent and energy into making beautiful, imaginative furniture and ceramics.
Clockwise from top left: Oregon Pine Light Cube, Chesterfield Wheelbarrow, Octahedron 600, Dish Ceramics
Here’s what he had to say for himself:
- Hello Aaron! So, who are you exactly?
Well, I grew up in Ireland and was always surrounded by art. Whether it was playing with clay, or paint, or whatever, it was awesome. My mum is a very talented former art teacher and has a couple of degrees so it all started there I guess. Then around my early teenage years I started getting into woodwork as my retired grandfather tried to find things to do with his time in the garage. Add on a fantastic art department at school, the wealth of creativity in London and Saint Martins, some years of experience, and you’re ready to serve.
- Sounds delicious! Can you tell us about the wonderful things you make?
My Hello Pretty store is quite a good representation of the direction I’ve gone in the last year or so. There is bespoke woodwork, lasercut sculptural pieces, ceramics, and my recontextualised wheelbarrow. I realised that I had to embrace different mediums. I had ideas that didn’t lend themselves to wood, my plates being the obvious example of that, and decided I would delve into various disciplines depending on what I wanted to achieve. I’d like to think my pieces and products have a stem running through them, similar to going to a solo show at an art gallery - you can see the same palette of colours in various paintings, and you know the same artist is responsible for all the work.
- What influences and inspires you?
People, my son, the thought of school/art college reunions, the natural world, geometry.
- Is there anything interesting coming up for you that we should know about?
I recently sent a new Octahedron up to the Southern Guild exhibition at Everard Read in Johannesburg. Also, we’re working on the prototypes to extend the range of ceramic plates.
- We’ll definitely keep an eye out for them. Thanks for taking the time to chat to us - we’ll have to buy you a drink sometime!
Sure, a White Russian would be ideal - Big Lebowski playing on a big projector!
We’re pretty sure The Dude would be a fan of Aaron’s work - much like the rug, his pieces really tie a room together. You can find them in his Hello Pretty store, and stay up to date with his projects on Facebook.
