Kate Metten is a potter and a painter. She graduated from Emily Carr University of Art & Design in 2017 and has recently completed an apprenticeship with Vancouver clay artist Gailan Ngan. Her studio pottery is finely thrown and meticulously glazed in quiet colours. But when she has joined the Raiders here in my studio she has taken the opportunity to paint abstract designs on plates with underglazes. It became clear that she is also a painter.
“Kate Metten” at Wil Aballe Art Projects gallery is her first solo show and it features her mostly book-size paintings with just a few ceramic pieces interspersed.
Kate had invited ‘Raiders’ to the opening of her show and as it was a non-freezing/raining evening I opted to drive in to Vancouver, to this intriguing little art space on Hastings street, just past Clarke. There I found several Raiding friends including Monique, Pierre, Mina, Michelle, Tamara and of course Eric. I met Wil Aballe, the owner of the gallery and its studio spaces upstairs and learnt that he supports and has shown work of emerging artists.
Kate’s paintings were elegantly hung in the spare white gallery space. I was impressed with the painstaking method of her abstract painting, already familiar in many of the plates she’s painted. The shapes are geometric and employ a limited palette. Each one draws you in to appreciate the possible ideas behind the carefully planned arrangement of shapes. I neglected to record her titles so I’ll just show photos of some paintings that grabbed my attention and leave the rest for you to check out.
She has included three ceramic pieces, I think possibly to introduce random three-dimensional shapes to contrast with the more formal paintings and to provide colour influences. One ceramic slab disc has been allowed to drape over a dowel and has been glazed in a unique neodymium glaze. It has the property of reflecting light in different colours depending on whether it is lit by natural or fluorescent light, from pale purple to blue.
Vancouver writer Colin Browne has written a wonderfully clear description of the work in this show and little purple hand-outs containing this article are available in the gallery. Kate’s first solo show has been very well supported by her Vancouver community and I shall look forward to seeing her future work, whether on canvas or in clay. She will serve a residency at the Burrard Arts Foundation in 2019.
Some of Kate’s functional ceramics were on display in the back office/reception room and this is where we had more conversation. Kate introduced me to her fellow ECU ceramics graduate Rebecca Ramsey (who is currently teaching childrens’ clay classes and taking a soda workshop at Shadbolt Centre) and Eric introduced me to celebrated First Nations artist Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun who allowed me to photograph him in his signature woven hat. 
