The Journal of Australian Ceramics Vol 48 No 3 November 2009

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When in Drought
Sarah Bond checks out new ceramics by Fiona Hiscock
Fiona Hiscock, it seems, is determined to see the weeds for
the trees. An intense love of plants and a desire to discover how
they function is the force driving her most recent works. Hiscock
celebrates what most avid gardeners relentlessly try to eliminate
from their garden beds and ornately paved pathways, weeds, and is
determined to spread the word that handmade ceramic ware can be
both aesthetic and functional.
In the midst of extreme drought and climatic instability, it is
the weeds that continue to thrive with little or no attention. 50,
rather than join her neighbours in an incessant battle against the
unwelcome green intruders, Hiscock has chosen to acknowledge
both their existence and affect on the Australian landscape. This
fascination for weeds is a natural step for Hiscock, a ceramicist who has, for over a decade, attentively
studied botanical imagery. Each work begins with a series of detailed watercolour drawings that are
selectively transferred into a three-dimensional narrative on a ceramic surface. Hiscock is determined to
bring a little piece of the country to the city through illustrative botanical imagery.
Through the limitless drawings and watercolours produced, Hiscock has become proficient in her
depictions of Austra lian plant life. Decorated vessels, jugs and lidded jars cluster on shelves echoing
the garden visible from Hiscock's light-filled studio in Melbourne's northwest. This latest series, brightly
awash with colour, leads the viewer through the plants' many stages of development from seed to
bloom with paintings of blackberries, figs and rosehips wrapping around the vessels. While these
elements are deservedly savoured, it is the detailed foliage and thorny stems that provide the most
interest.
Flanking her ongoing weed studies, Hiscock has begun to
contemplate the remnants of early colonial gardens.
Blackberries and rosehips are new subjects
for Hiscock, while studies of lemon and
fig trees are again prominent in this recent
investigation for their ability to survive and
coexist in the unforgiving and unpredictable
Australian landscape. Why were certain
plants selected for emigration? When were
these plants first cultured and when were they
branded as weeds? In discovering what early
Australian settlers planted in their domestic
gardens, Hiscock attempts to trace a particular
botanical history of our landscape and has spent
extended periods of time in rural areas studying
plant-life. (Two of Hiscock's most influential trips
were at Hill End in 2002 and 2004). 5he confesses
to a feeling of uneasiness about potentially
glorifying introduced plant species and weeds
rather than indigenous plants but believes this is an
important untold piece of history.
above: Merricks Blackberry
Bowl, h.2lem, w.22em, d.22cm
below: Ma riners Falls
Blackberry Pitcher, h.36em,
w.39cm, d.17em
72 THE JOURNAL OF AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS NOVEMBER 2009