Erin Merkley
BIO
Erin Merkley is a ceramic artist and designer from the Thousand Islands region of Eastern Ontario. Her practice blends traditional ceramic processes with contemporary design tools, exploring movement, softness, and form through functional objects. After relocating to Toronto during the pandemic, she returned to school to pursue a career in the creative fields. She was introduced to ceramics through Sheridan College’s Art Fundamentals program, which led her to complete a degree in ceramics through the Honours Bachelor of Craft and Design program at Sheridan College.
CAPSTONE PROJECT
CLAY, LIGHT, MOVEMENT
My process is driven by an endless material curiosity, rooted in slow, mindful making. Grounded by digital modelling, mould making, and slip casting, the rigidity of these demanding processes are softened by the freedom to take risks. Working with the same form again and again creates a rhythm of familiarity. In this repetition, I find the freedom to experiment. My craft becomes a meditation on sameness and difference, where surface, form, and material quietly shift with every iteration, remaining in quiet conversation throughout my entire process. The forms I make extend an open invitation to the viewer to explore, observe, touch, or hold. I aim to craft flowing, functional forms that imbue a sense of playful softness and warmth into everyday objects. The pieces explored during this capstone project focus on ambient lighting forms that utilize the containment, spilling, and diffusing of light.
FEATURED Work
Title: In Praise of Shadows
Dimensions: 20.5 x 12 x 7.5
Year: 2025
Materials: Slip cast, translucent porcelain, phenomena glaze
Title: Silver Lining
Dimensions: 10 x 5 x 6
Year: 2026
Materials: Slip cast, translucent porcelain, phenomena glaze
Title: Floor Lamp
Dimensions: 120 x 36 x 32
Year: 2025
Materials: white sculpture clay, salt fired, phenomena glaze, hand built
Title: Diaphanous
Dimensions: 20 x 12 x 12
Year: 2025
Materials: Slip cast, translucent porcelain, microcrystalline glaze
Title: Lunar
Dimensions: 10 x 5 x 6
Year: 2026
Materials: Slip cast, translucent porcelain