I have far more ideas than time, yet I try to shape at least one idea in clay each week. I think in clay, but I dream in materials and techniques.
Born in The Netherlands in 1986, Mickey Philips is a Dutch ceramic artist whose practice moves between sculpture, design and everyday observation. She studied Graphic Design at the Utrecht University of the Arts. Six weeks before graduating, Philips changed direction: instead of presenting a graphic book, she translated an infographic about the Greek financial crisis into one hundred cast clay cups. This decisive shift introduced clay as a new way of thinking, while her graphic background remained embedded in the clarity, repetition and visual wit of her work.
Mickey Philips is drawn to ideas that appear impractical, excessive or impossible. Rather than beginning with technical limitations, she begins with the image she wants to make and discovers the process through trial and error. A crate containing hundreds of ceramic beans, a pear held in a basket, a chair with an exuberant surface or an oversized everyday object may require repeated failure before it works. Breakage is not treated as proof that an idea should be abandoned. It is information that helps the next version take form.
Her objects often begin with familiar situations. Food, packaging, domestic furniture and ordinary gestures are translated into clay, where they become strange, humorous and unexpectedly tender. Philips uses repetition, scale and material contradiction to shift the way an object is read. A functional form may become sculptural; a visual joke may reveal the labour and persistence behind it. The work remains accessible without becoming simple.
This attitude extends beyond ceramics. Mickey Philips describes herself as thinking in clay while dreaming in materials and techniques she cannot fully control, from glassblowing to woodturning. She is attracted to matter that retains agency and does not behave perfectly. Collaboration is therefore an important part of her practice. Alongside autonomous collections, she develops personalised projects with brands, companies and makers, ranging from small objects to ceramic furniture.
Recent works include chairs, benches, stools and sculptural objects that sit on the border of art and collectible design. Philips has presented with NewHouse Gallery at PAN Amsterdam and Affordable Art Fairs in Amsterdam, Hamburg, Berlin and Vienna. NewHouse Gallery represents Mickey Philips in Amsterdam. Browse available works by Mickey Philips and explore her exhibition history.