CAL Awards 2026

CAL Outstanding Exhibitor 2026

Winner: Sun Kim

Sun Kim is a Korean ceramicist raised in Brazil.
She received her first BA in Fine Arts and continued her ceramics studies in the United States, where she earned a second BA from Alfred University. In 2004, Sun moved to the UK to begin a studio assistantship with Edmund de Waal. Since 2007, her own practice has been based in South London.
Sun Kim explores both traditional and contemporary aesthetics in her work, producing a range of functional ware with a distinct visual language. The making process is a continual challenge – an ongoing investigation into form, shape, and volume.
Sun Kim is a Selected Member of the Craft Potters Association.

Best International Exhibitor 2026

Winner: Soyeon Gim

Soyeon Gim is a Seoul-based ceramic artist who explores the potential of clay through a material-driven approach. Working primarily with wheel-throwing, she focuses on the experiential qualities of objects — form, weight, and texture — rather than function. By combining wheel-throwing with hand-carving, she develops forms that move away from symmetry. The resulting works take shape as sculptural objects intended to be experienced by hand, inviting both visual and tactile engagement and narrowing the distance between the viewer and the work.

CAL Newcomer Award 2026

Winner: Olga Siruk

Olga Siruk is a London-based ceramic artist whose hand-built sculptures bring together archaic myth and contemporary form. Inspired by Russian folklore and the avant-garde, she creates biomorphic works with layered graphic surfaces using paper resist and underglaze colours. Her practice explores ritual, memory and cultural identity. Her work has been exhibited at BCB 2025 (Fresh) and as a finalist for the CERCO International Ceramic Prize. She was named one of Ceramics Monthly’s Emerging Artists 2026 and in 2025 she received the London Potters Established Maker Award.

Emmanuel Cooper Prize 2026

Presented by The Craft Pottery Charitable Trust

Winner: Dan Kelly

Dan’s wheel thrown pieces are particularly influenced by the city environment which has been a large part of his inspiration for most of his life. The figure has consistently been an inspiration for his work in many ways, not just how we describe pieces, but how pieces relate to each other, like members of the same family. Other influences include traditional and historical pots from both Europe and the Far East.

The thrown vessel allows him to work in a spontaneous, intuitive way, keeping the soft clay qualities of the freshly thrown form and adding active marks and contrasting details.

Dan Kelly is a Fellow of the Craft Potters Association.