Elise Bishop
Born in 1971 in New Zealand. Crossed the Tasman, back and forth, for a childhood filled with mud-pie making.
Developed mind and body with a degree in literature and an apprenticeship in sound engineering. Played music
with all manner of folk for lots of years. Took up clay full-time in 2005, and has a life’s work ahead of her. In 2010
she returned from Australia to live on Aotea (Great Barrier Island) in the Hauraki Gulf with her best friend Chris.
Elise’s interests are in creating work that has a close relationship to the earth from which it comes. She experiments
with a wide range of materials found on the island she now calls home. Her tea bowls are made from a mix of
various stoneware clays, river and beach sands, and are decorated with local slips. Each one is unique, as well as
functional for tea ceremony use. Elise has studied teaware in Korea and Japan.
Lately she has begun to explore more purely sculptural works, pieces that are objects for contemplation rather than
objects for use. Still, they are informed by functionality: she picks through the roadside slips, looking for slabs of
weathered kaolin to transform in her kiln - the ones that catch her eye are like naturally occurring serving dishes,
mortars, and pestles.
Elise sporadically updates her website at elisebishop.com, where you are encouraged to sign up to her rarely used
and super-private mailing list.
Developed mind and body with a degree in literature and an apprenticeship in sound engineering. Played music
with all manner of folk for lots of years. Took up clay full-time in 2005, and has a life’s work ahead of her. In 2010
she returned from Australia to live on Aotea (Great Barrier Island) in the Hauraki Gulf with her best friend Chris.
Elise’s interests are in creating work that has a close relationship to the earth from which it comes. She experiments
with a wide range of materials found on the island she now calls home. Her tea bowls are made from a mix of
various stoneware clays, river and beach sands, and are decorated with local slips. Each one is unique, as well as
functional for tea ceremony use. Elise has studied teaware in Korea and Japan.
Lately she has begun to explore more purely sculptural works, pieces that are objects for contemplation rather than
objects for use. Still, they are informed by functionality: she picks through the roadside slips, looking for slabs of
weathered kaolin to transform in her kiln - the ones that catch her eye are like naturally occurring serving dishes,
mortars, and pestles.
Elise sporadically updates her website at elisebishop.com, where you are encouraged to sign up to her rarely used
and super-private mailing list.
