Connor Coulston (b. 1992, Oldham, UK) is an artist whose practice can be defined as an ongoing articulation of the relationship between self-deprecating humour as a means of enquiry, the mutability of clay, and a wild imagination.

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Coulston’s work emerges from a fascination with the kitsch ceramic ornaments one might find in charity shops or museums, or that might adorn a grandparent’s fireplace.

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He subverts these often ‘mundane’ objects through a rigorous questioning of their legacy and hidden narratives, connecting these historical signifiers to symbols of contemporary struggles he has personally experienced, such as depression, queer identity, and his grandmother’s problematic love for right-wing politicians.

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Coulston creates surreal and kitsch sculptures which, on first inspection, appear to communicate levity, only revealing their more critical and sinister undertones once the audience has been lured into a misguided sense of security