The Journal of Australian Ceramics Vol 48 No 3 November 2009

Education
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5 cubic metre gas kiln
facility, well equipped for work, study and experimentation. The facilities include on-site living quarters,
anagama, noborigama and bourry box wood kilns, a variety of gas and electric kilns (including a huge
5.3 cubic meter monster gas kiln, for those who think 'size matters'), a plaster room, fan-forced drying
room, glaze room and an impressive 'motorised' slab roller. The only thing missing is a gym and sauna
room.
In addition to these wonderful facilities, the ICS invites acclaimed ceramicists, artists and critics to
facilitate exchanges and communication. The guest artists regularly present lectures and workshops.
Their interaction with the resident artists provides opportunities for mutual influence and creative
collaboration. Resident artists are able to exchange ideas and experiences through presentations and
informal discussion . While we were there, Taiwanese ceramic artist Hsu Yunghsu visited the centre to
do a presentation on his recent work, Theatre of Clay which had won the 2008 Mino International
Ceramic Prize . Other resident artists and I also gave presentations on our work, giving us further
opportunity to gain an insight into each other's artistic practice and motivations.
There is also the Industrial Ceramic Research Institute and education facility which, along with
its development of cutting edge ceramic technology, provides local and visiting ceramic artists an
opportunity to enhance their knowledge of the material. We were taken by the staff of Shigaraki to visit
this centre and were impressed at the innovative developments these local researchers were achieving
with ceramic materials. The adjacent clay and glaze material supply shop provided the 'potter in need'
with a candy shop array of clays and materials. I was particularly drawn to the locally made black
stoneware clay and porcelain from Kutani and Arita, as well as fine imported porcelain from China.
I shared a guest artist room w ith a gentleman from Indonesia, Nurdian Ichsan . He and I were the
first two artists to arrive at the centre and commence our residency. I couldn't have asked for a better
roommate as we both shared a love for coffee and food. Both of us had prepared for our fix by making
sure we packed our favourite blend, before we packed our toothbrush. Nurdian is a ceramics lecturer
from Bandung University of Art and Design in Indonesia. The work he produced whilst in Shigaraki was
a series of hand-modelled statues of himself in a variety of poses. They were slip-cast in porcelain and
positioned against handmade brick wall structures of varying sizes, which were constructed of miniature
terra cotta bricks and cement. Nurdian's intention was to "show mans relationship to scale". Most
evident in his work was a strong sense of craftsmanship, conceptual intent and an underlying sense of
humour and wit.
The luxury of time and the studio environment allowed for intense periods of creativity free from
so THE JOURNAL OF AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS NOVEMBER 2009