About

Kayla Finnegan is an artist from Long Island, NY currently living and working in Newport, RI. She will receive her Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art with a concentration in Ceramics from Salve Regina University in May 2025. Finnegan has been included in exhibitions such as Turning Pages at McKillop Library Gallery, Newport, RI, and has presented a collection of her work at the SRU Student Exposition at Salve Regina University in Newport, RI. She will present her latest work this spring in the Senior Exhibition at the Dorrance Hamilton Gallery in Newport, RI.

Artist Statement

My work focuses on the interaction of drawing and ceramic art. My current body of work is a series of decorative platters that engage with the ideas of home and family. I am illustrating both landscapes and figures that have shaped my thoughts and feelings about the concept of home. I go about this thought process with the hope that viewers will connect with this series in their own way and further think about their relationship with the concepts I am achieving. Since many people see drawings as fragile work that belongs in a gallery or museum and ceramic works as common, functional household objects, I want to bring these preconceived ideas together to illuminate how beautiful, intentionally created work can also be functional.