The Journal of Australian Ceramics Vol 52 No 2 July 2013

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the simple beauty of the objects, the contrast of material form, and the over-arching intent of the
object's creation back in its time, and now. We are reminded of its early context - the early shoestring
functions of pioneer kitchens and the ardent tenacity that inherent English tea drinking cultures
purveyed.
In other works such as Remnants, O'Sullivan references other moments in Australian history, using a
found wooden teaspoon holder in the shape of Australia, an object with overt associations to Australian
kitsch, and also commemorative teaspoons. The artist draws on these links. Her reconstructed teaspoons
are themselves delicate with the added fragile and intriguing imagery of twisted birds' claws . With a
telling title, the work is taxonomic in its construction and intent.
1 Sarah O'Sullivan, Remnants, 2011 , slipcast and hand-painted porcelain with
found timber frame; photo: Maree Alexander
2 Sarah O'Sullivan, Installation, left to right: Verdant, Banksia Series I,
Kangaroo Paw Series I, carved sta ined porcelain; h.l8cm; photo: Debbie Gallulo
This interest for O'Sullivan,
of the emblems of the
Australian pathology and our
connection to environment,
owes much to the legacy
of major Australian artist
Margaret Preston who held
critical interest in Aboriginal
culture in her search for
the true motif of the
Australian identity. Preston
was one of the first major
spokespeople for the value
of Aboriginal culture, and in
so doing committed herself
temerariously to rearranging
the accepted notions of what
constituted essential symbols
of Australian nationhood
between the wars.
Like Preston, O'Sullivan
developed an appreciation
for the cultural legacy
and current contexts of
Aboriginal communities
and culture, an interest she
cemented and deepened
in 2011 with an internship
and research venture to
Haasts Bluff in central
Australia. Preston's interest
in everyday life as a subject
for art is similarly apparent
in O'Sullivan's attraction to the small details of her surrounding environment. However, unlike the
heroic and bold intentions of Preston to reforge a national identity in the schema of a new and modern
Australia, O'Sullivan's treatment of objects is instead reverent, sensitive and modest. Her delicate casting
of intricate objects (such as sticks, bones and handles) and her layering and patterning in glazes, all
speak of the beauty of small overlooked details in the world around us. In this, O'Sullivan extends
76 THE JOURNAL OF AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS JULY 2013