The Journal of Australian Ceramics Vol 48 No 3 November 2009

Profi le
and reflects the scenic colours of the South Australian countryside, especially the fields of the Fleurieu
Peninsula and the Adelaide Hills. The Edge of a Day, a mid-fired earthenware elliptical vessel, provides
a strikingly flat surface, a canvas for Mincham's painterly multi-glaze effects. This is one of his most
abstract interpretations of the landscape to date.
Mincham has had a passion for the environment since his early teens when he first became involved
with a local field naturalist group and has often been politically active for environmental issues of his
region such as the Coorong, the waterways where once the mighty Murray River flowed but now is less
than a trickle. However his artistic output has reached far beyond his much-loved local landscapes. His
works are held by most major ceramic collecting institutions such as the Art Gallery of South Australia,
the National Gallery of Australia, the National Gallery of Victoria and the Shepparton Art Gallery. An
activist for the visual arts and crafts in Australia, Mincham is recognised for his many years of service
to federal and state arts bodies where he has been a strong advocate for greater recognition and
understanding of the arts.
In 2007, Mincham's long career and achievements were recognised when he was selected as Object
Gallery's Living Treasure for 2009. Th is program celebrates senior craftspeople who, individually, have
over 30 years of professional practice in their chosen medium. Previous Living Treasures include les
Blakebrough (2005), Klaus Moje (2006), Marian Hosking (2007) and Liz Williamson (2008). Mincham
is currently hard at work in his studio preparing for two important exhibitions at the end of this year.
The first will be the national touring exhibition as part of his living Treasures selection, commencing at
Object Gallery. The second exhibition In My View will run concurrently to the Living Treasure exhibition
heralding the relocation of Sabbia Gallery to its new Paddington location.
Mincham is definitely an artist in his creative prime and his most recent work showcases the unique
results of his passionate research and experimentation with surface textures and firing techniques that
demonstrate an expanded view of the possibilities of contemporary ceramic expression. He has enjoyed
the opportunity to revisit many of the earlier works that were often discarded somewhere in the studio
if they had not successfully worked at that time. The works that he is currently creating are new,
exciting and at times a resolution of earlier experiments.
Sandra Brown is the Coordinating Curator of the Jeff Mincham: Ceramics exhibition and the
Touring Exhibitions Coordinator at Object. See overleaf for tour details.
Waiting for Rain, 2009, multi-g!azed, mid-fired earthenware, h.26cm, w.52cm. d.12cm; photo: Grant Hancock