Cheryl Oliver

History

Cheryl Oliver (1951-2013) was an award winning ceramic artist based in Whakamara, Tauranga, New Zealand. Her work has featured in several high profile exhibitions throughout New Zealand and has found its way to many parts of the world, including the home of Sir Elton John.

A trained psychiatric nurse, Oliver’s potting career began in 1993 when she contacted Kelvin Falconer of Rolling Cloud Pottery in Katikati for tuition with the intention of learning to make a dinner-set for her home in Whakamarama. The first piece that Oliver produced under Falconer’s guidance was a dinner plate. She never finished the dinner-set, but having fallen in love with the medium, she moved quickly on from the wheel to master hand-building techniques, first producing a series of clocks before beginning to create the quirky characters that became idiosyncratic of her practice. Her works reflect the complexities of the human condition, whilst remaining accessible and light-hearted through the use of humour, and are popular with local, national and international collectors.

A member of the New Zealand Potters Incorporated, Oliver was a recipient of the Peoples Choice Award in their 50th National Exhibition in 2009, and a recipient of a Merit Award in the 2011 Portage Ceramic Awards. A prolific maker, Oliver also travelled to Canada and the United States to teach clay workshops. Her appreciation for other quality New Zealand artists work is evident through her personal collection.

In 2011 Oliver wrote, “There is something extremely satisfying to be working with a medium which through the process of fire is changed forever into something completely different. Clay is a demanding medium and has come to represent a mentor in teaching persistence, patience and joy – once you learn to be philosophical about the frustrations and disappointments that inevitably occur along the way.”