The Journal of Australian Ceramics Vol 48 No 3 November 2009

Profile
Passionately concerned about "the whole mess we've got ourselves into as a species", about the
sullying and exploitation of nature and the land on which we and ecosystems so depend, Hoffmann
most recently turned beyond clay to its ancestor, rocK, and in particular dolerite, described so
compellingly by geologist Dr David Leaman in his book, The Rock Which Makes Tasmania . Just as
many people investigate their family trees, so Hoffmann investigates and recreates his lineage through
rock which, like us, was created in what the physicist George Gamow called the 'ylem', the primordial
substance from which the elements were formed - that hot soup of neutrons, protons and electrons.
Hoffmann perceives his kiln as a time machine. Fuelled by wood, it hurls him back into geo-primordial
time, a time "when earth first took leave of itself to become life". Through this work, Hoffmann alludes
to what he sees as an urgent need for change, for re-identification with the place and matter from
which we (as part of the universe and web of life) are descended and for which we should have the
greatest reverence. Thus, Hoffman's work has a political dimension.
The four forms from Hoffmann's Common Matter series, which occupied centre stage at Carnegie,
were powerful in their monumentality; hymns to the sanctity of nature, its might and steadfastness,
evoking a sense of awe. Hoffmann's hand-as-maker is not discernible, for he has sought to withdraw
himself, content to remain an anonymous bystander.
Ben Richardson, a professional and skilled potter, is committed to using local raw materials and to his
work having the potential for creative use.
Richardson'S interest in colour and surface through the interaction of clay and firing initially grew
through raku firing. Frustrated by the fragility of low-fired work, he soon became aware of the
higher fired, unglazed, wood-fired pots of Japan, A workshop on wood-firing by influential potter
Gwyn Hanssen-Pigott enhanced this interest, along with a short visit to Japan. Inspired by the kilns he
saw in Bizen and Shiga raki, Japan, and a "groundhog-based kiln" in Canberra, built by Fred Olsen, he
experimented with various kiln types, before constructing the current hybrid kilns on his idyllic property
at South Arm in Southern Tasmania.
In 2004, during his Master of Art, Design and Environment studies at the University of Tasmania in
Neil Hoffmann, Common Matter .2. 2008 Series. dolerite and clay, wood-fired, h.27cm. w.64cm; photo: artist