Margaret O'Rorke

MARGARET O'RORKE (b. 1938)

Margaret O’Rorke lives and works in Oxford. First training as a painter at the Chelsea School of Art she then took up pottery at Camberwell. Her fulltime career started later in life, working with translucent porcelain. In 1992 she spent three formative months working in Ryoji Koie’s studio in Japan. Since then she has exhibited widely and participated in numerous residencies, including one at the International Ceramic Research Centre in Denmark in 2007 and two in Jingdezhen Sanbao Ceramic Art Institute in China in 2007 and 2008.

Margaret O'Rorke frequently works to commission and with each piece, incorporating the lighting technology is an integral part of the creative process. Installations, including chandeliers, wall pieces and fountains, all involve complex engineering, both electrical and mechanical.

Above: Margaret O'Rorke with her 'Circles of Wings' light sculpture, 2001

Curriculum Vitae

Education:
1954-58	Chelsea School of Art
1958-59	Camberwell School of Art
1976	Chichester College of Further Education

Professional experience:
1975-76	Chichester College of Further Education, Technical Assistant
1976-77	Portsmouth College of Further Education, Part-time teaching
1980-81	Deddington Pottery, Oxon, assistant potter
1980	Set up studio in Oxford
1980-85	Oxford Prison, part time Art teacher
1984-88	St. Edwards School, Oxford, part time Pottery teacher
1981-97	Headington Adult Education, part time pottery teacher
1988-2002	Craft Adviser to Southern Arts
1999-2002	Visiting Creative Arts Fellow Wolfson College Oxford.

Recent exhibitions:
2007	Collect. Victoria and Albert Museum Flow Gallery Galerie Besson, Classic and Contemporary Ceramics Oxford Museum, Woodstock, Potters of Portland Flow Gallery, London. Commissioning Exhibition Jingdezhen Sanbao Ceramic Art Institute, China, International Master's Exhibition and workshop The Wilson Art Museum and Jingdezhen Modern Museum in Shanghai, World Contemporary and Public Ceramic Art Contemporary Applied Arts, London, Porcelain Garment Sculptures (Collaboration with Marlene McKibbin)
2008	KOTONA III Fiskars Finland, Garment Sculptures Tulessa Syntynyt International Exhibition, Makasini, Fiskars, Finland, Light Sculptures Jingdezhen International Ceramic Exhibition and workshop, Sanbao, Jingdezhen, China Galerie Besson, London, Twenty Years - Twenty Pots
2009	Northern Clay Center Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

Recent Residencies:
2007	International Ceramic Research Centre, Denmark, Collaborative Relationships Seminar: Royal Copenhagen Porcelain Jingdezhen Sanbao Ceramic Art Institute, China, International Master's Workshop Fuping Pottery Art Village, Fuping, Shaanzi, China, Conference Theme: Appreciation of Ceramic Art Presentation. Presentation: Translucent Porcelain with light - Studio Potter and Industrial Designer, Margaret O'Rorke
2008	Jingdezhen International Ceramic Exhibition and workshop, Sanbao, China
2009	Workshop, Northern Clay Center Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

Exhibitions at Galerie Besson

Twenty Years - Twenty Pots	Sep - Oct 2008
Classic and Contemporary Ceramics	Feb - Mar 2007
Classic and Contemporary Ceramics	Jan - Feb 2006
Contemporary Potters	Feb - Mar 2004
Fernando Casasempere and Margaret O'Rorke	Nov - Dec 2001
Commemorative Mugs for the Millennium	Dec 1999 - Jan 2000
Margaret O'Rorke: Light Sculptures	Mar 1995

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