Poppy Fields | Original

Year: 2024

Badger Dimensions: 420mm x 240mm x 100mm

Poppy Dimensions: 280mm x 360mm x 140mm

Medium: Clay and steel

Sheer determination and hard work allowed Kylie Matheson to blend her two passions: animals and art.

A full time artist working out of her Dunedin home studio, Kylie has been an animal lover for as long as she can remember. In 2011 Kylie, who had previously worked in other mediums, found her two passions successfully crossed paths when she discovered clay.

Clay was a natural medium for Kylie to work in as it can interpret texture, movement and depth much like that of animal fur and feathers.

Relationships and symbolism are recurring themes in Kylie’s work: an arrow tattoo represents the artist’s beloved grandfather, while red circles around the eye represent awareness of the interaction between the work and the study of the animal and environment to get there.

Kylie’s sculptures are loosely textured with the work of the maker evident in the clay.