Pottery In Australia Vol 36 No 2 Winter 1997

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'This exhibition presents the last works of one of
Western Australia's foremost artists, Joan
Campbell, and pays tribute to her. These quiet,
elegant, near ahstract forms arc the culm ination of a
lifetime working with clay - as well as the product of
considerable human experience.
These works are about continuity. Their very making
was also an expres ion of the vital energy of the creative
force, the sustaining power of the will to create. The
forms were made in 1996 before Joan became ill.
However, some of the works were completed under
Joan 's supervision during her final days, demonstrating
her remarkable uedic-dtion to her work and the love and
admiration of colleagues who 'lssisted her. At first Joan
went to the workshop and worked with them there.
When she was confined to bed, she supervised the work
from home, maintaining the same rigorous standards and
seeking the same sense of rightness as she would have
done if working in the ·tudio herself. If a piece was not
as she wanted it, back it went for re-glazing and refiring
... Her mind and her spirit were absolutely widl her
work, right until the end.
Joan Campbell's ceramic sculptures were journeys of
discovery for the artist, and remain so for the viewer. She
constantly steered away from the well-worn path and
forged her own. In these works, as always, she dared to
do what she had not done before.
Joan Campbell was a suberb ceramic artist, with a great
sympathy for nature. But these qualities alone did not
create the magic of these works. This came from her own
character. The poSitive, wise, gentle and generous person
- the great liver of life - is embedded in all that she made.
Her spirit informs her fonTIS.' Anna Gray.
'I enjoy working in an exploratory way. I never quite
know what I am doing. Some of the works in this
exhibition are essentialy about the recycling of energy,
how we expend our energy and if we expend it, how ir
renews itself. 1 see this in the ocean all the time, where
the waves roll in expending their energy and then recycle
back, returning to the ocean. The tides come and go. The
sense of embracement in some of these works is not
about protection, but about there being no beginning and
no end - simply life in its fullness. I think the edge of the
sea is one of the greatest sources of energy on the earth~
A stroll along rhe edge of the sea can be a time of
nourishment of the spirit.
These works are also about life and its continuity, how
life continues. Our span of life force is limited, but our
contribution is important, it is essential to life's continuity.
Whilst we may depart life, life continues.
I have slways lived within rhe sight and sound of the
sea, and for most of my life it has played an important
part. The sounds of the sea have nurtured me almost
more than the sighr of the sea. There is a wonderful
rhythm on the beach, there is a freshness. My studio on
Bathers Beach looks onto the sea and I can hear the
moods of the sea. I hear different ene rgies being played. I
know that when 1 am gone the sea will still be there, in
continual motion. The sea humbles me constantly ...
The work in this exhibition is some of the most difficult
technically and mosr spiritually pleasing that I have done,
in that the expressions came without me actually pushing
them. That is possibly just a result of years of working in
the unknown. The clay performed well and I was quite
relaxed about what I was doing. Although these forms arc
abstract, there is a sort of happiness about them which I
enjoyed while making them.
The forms are abstracted to fulfil the sculptural needs
of three dimensional expression: halancing the curves,
overcomi ng the difficulties of working in the round so
that harnlony and contradiction were all faced. For me,
the co nsideration of line, balance, dynamic tension,
texture, are all part of the making process. Scale was to a
large extent governed by the size of, and type of, kiln I
used. I had never done my expressive work in an electric
kiln before and to overcome my fear of being slick and in
total control I deliberately chose to develop - with the
ceramicist, Greg Daly's help - several glazes that were so
sensitive they did not allow complete control, and
continued to give me surprises ...
I see myself as a maker. Other people can decide
whether what I make is art or not...
I love clay because it is an honest material, it is totally
honest in its response to the human fingers. I believe that
human hands are the most brilliant tools ever devised by
anybody, and that they are hetter than any machine.
Many years ago I chose to work in a way which led me
to use my hands every day of my life. I do not push clay,
I build. For forty years I have coiled tons and tons of clay,
and my main tool is my thumb. I honestly believe we do
not realL.e the wonder of having hands. I like the fact that
we can connea wirh the spirit, with the intellect through
our hands.
I work with fire· that is an important element in my
work. I think every poner is mystified or has an aura of
mystery about what is going to be in the kiln, no matter
how many years they have been firing. No two days, no
two firings are ever the same. 1 never make two pieces
quite the same. [ never tried to make them different, but
if I tried to make them the same I could nor...
I doubt I will ever tire of what [ do - clay still has
fascinating and elusive qualities for me, it is the most
responsive material that we can use and one of the most
unexplored media in the world. 1 love what 1 do, but 1 do
not place any expectations on it. I live in the moment of
the day and [ have been placed in life to live'. Joan
Campbell.
3612 WINTER 1997 + POTIERY IN AUSTlW.1A 7