The Journal of Australian Ceramics Vol 50 No 2 July 2011

Process + Meaning
Far left:
Pippin Drysdale
Burn t Blaze Ridge, 2011
porcelain, incised with
coloured glazes; h.31cm
Photo: Sue Warrington
left:
louise B05cacci, Pilgrim 2
(below my flightless feet)
2010, translucent porcelain
vitreous inlay, glaze, h.20cm
Photo: Greg Piper
interior. Sandra Black's forms are enhanced by intricate, yet sometimes strong, shadows, echoing her
concept that the Australian environment is extreme, piercing and harsh, yet fragile. Black finds markmaking
an intuitive response to a blank surface. She works with simple porcelain forms, thrown or
slip-cast from a single piece drop mould, into which she carves and/or drills marks when the pieces are
leather hard.
I am consistently drawn back to these techniques for their precision, focus, and meditative qualit ies in
the making of marks on and through the surface.
In contrast to this process of removing material to create a mark, artist Pippin Drysdale builds up
layers on the surface of her work. She then intricately incises with fine 'trace' lines, using a complicated
process of layering liquitex, pigment and glaze, a technique which has taken years of experimenting
and patience to perfect. As only a small patch of surface can be worked on at one time, a single pot
can take several days to prepare and paint. Drysdale's marks record the horizon line, giving the surface
a sense of infinite space as if looking out over the vast expanse of the desert. These incised lines follow
the natural contours of the vessel, linking together the concept, the form and the mark-making.
Bronvvyn Kemp's inlaid porcelain pieces record natural phenomena, such as the patterns of wind and
heat waves in the distance. As she explains:
Drawing or marking the surface is an integrated conceptual aspect of my work, ra rely separate or an
Bronwyn Kemp, Slowly Softly, 2009, Southern Ice, inlaid black slip; h.15cms, w.46cms, d. 13cms; photo: Jasper Odgers
76 THE IOURNAL OF AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS JULY 2011