Kay was guest artist at Guldagergaard Woodfiring Symposium, Denmark. She used the opportunity to create Ceramic Wallpaper: Peonies for her Ceramic House curatorial project Interbeing, an exploration of collaborative ceramic and sound art practice in Britain and China. Ceramic Wallpaper: Peonies is the first in an ongoing series of repeating patterns rendered in woodfired relief porcelain.

The peony is the official emblem of China and has great value in Eastern culture. An eternal symbol of royalty, honour and wealth, it is present in many religious festivals and traditions. The Chinese name Peony can mean “the most beautiful” and stands as a symbol of spring, female beauty and reproduction. The peony, most exalted of the Chinese symbolic and sacred flora, is a popular motif found on traditional Chinese porcelain.

The material is unglazed porcelain, fired raw in two wood fired kilns; one firing lasted for six days and a smaller version of the work was fired in a wood kiln with soda. The resulting colours and textures were created by the flames and wood ash over the duration of the firings.