About
Kate Metten works at the intersection of painting and ceramics, blurring material hierarchies with formal abstraction. Her practice moves fluidly between the studio and the exhibition space, balancing a body of contemporary artwork with a line of hand-thrown tableware that redefines the rituals of everyday use.
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Rooted in West Coast Modernism and informed by years of material research, Metten’s ceramics are both functional and sculptural — vessels that embody precision, rhythm, and touch. Each piece reflects her commitment to the handmade as a form of quiet resistance to mass production and disposability.
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Her distinctive creations have been featured at Vancouver Art Gallery Shop, Polygon Gallery, Wil Aballe Art Projects, and the Museum of Vancouver, as well as internationally through Simons Fabrique 1840, NCECA, and British Vogue.
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Recipient of the 2023 Judson Beaumont BC Achievement Award in Applied Art and Design, Metten continues to explore the threshold between utility and art — where a mug becomes a conversation, and a vessel becomes a field of light, colour, and meaning.
Studio Ceramics
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Her studio operates on a zero-waste model, cultivating recycled clay and using locally sourced raw materials. Adapting historical ceramic traditions to an urban context, Kate harvests clay from Vancouver’s construction sites, transforming industrial by-products into vessels of renewal. Acknowledging the site specificity of the material and inspired by the natural world, her wheel-thrown forms are defined by a personal language of colour and glaze. Through years of material research, she has developed a palette of rare-earth neodymium glazes that explore light, perception, and optical depth — a dialogue between science and craft.
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Function lies at the heart of Kate Metten’s ceramics — a quiet critique of modern disposable culture. Each piece is meticulously handcrafted to endure, inviting touch, use, and the intimacy of daily ritual.
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Each piece reflects a deep study of clay’s tactile intelligence and its conversation with contemporary abstraction. Working intuitively, Kate allows her process to reveal the balance between hand and mind in motion — objects emerging as both evidence and expression of human presence.
Painting & Exhibitions
Kate Metten’s painting practice explores the intersection of Bauhaus colour theory, neuroscience, and the optics of perception. Her work investigates how colour, form, and rhythm register in the body — how looking itself can be a tactile experience.
Layers of pigment are built and dissolved, mirroring the processes of erosion and repair found in the natural world. Through this physical approach, the act of painting becomes an extension of the body’s intelligence — an embodied form of seeing.
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Kate Metten's recent exhibitions include Work House at MNP Tower, Atmospheric River at Wil Aballe Art Projects, The Thinking Eye at Burrard Arts Foundation, and Monastic Living in Berlin during her residency at GlogauAIR.
Visit the Exhibitions section for more information, or email for inquiries about available paintings.
Visit the Showroom
You’re invited to visit the Kate Metten Ceramics Showroom at 2111 Main Street, Unit 129 — open to the public every Saturday from 12–4 PM.
Explore new collections of wheel-thrown tableware, sculptural vessels, and limited-edition works in person. Each piece is made by hand in Vancouver and available for purchase directly from the studio.
Free parking is available on-site.
Private appointments outside of Saturday hours are also welcome — please email katemettenceramics@gmail.com
to schedule a time.
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