The Journal of Australian Ceramics Vol 53 No 3 November 2014

WALKER 

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3 EDITORIAL 

Contents 

4 CONTRIBUTORS 

TRIBUTE 

5 Margaret Tuckson by Mary Faith 

9 AWARDS & GALLERY 

14 SHARDS 

FOCUS: COLLABORATION 

17 Being Consumed by Adele Sliuzas 

23 Cicada Waterfall: A still moving collaboration 

between Louise Boscacci and Elisabeth Cummings 

26 Broken Chimneys 

Georgia Weaver shares a story about Cheryl Lucas' 

replication project in Christchurch 

28 Fantasticology Tokyo: Faults, Flesh and Flowers by Karen Weiss 

31 Eagle Junction State School Community Collaboration 

Stephanie Out ridge Field writes about a mosaic project in Brisbane 

34 A Recipe for Success 

Ilona Topolcsanyi works 'from paddock to plate' 

35 Mend 

Bree Claffey and Kate Hill team up for a unique project 

38 Emerging into landscapes 

Karen Farrell and Amanda Hale talk about moving on from TAFE 

40 Pia Murphy + Rhys lee 

Alicia Sciberras introduces their story of collaboration 

42 terraluca 

43 Prism a 

A collaboration between Maria Chatzinikolaki and Jorge Criollo-Carrillo 

44 Tero and Berganza 

46 Ngapartji Ngapartji 

Ben Carter tells a short story about his time at Ernabella Arts 

PROMOTION 

49 Gaya Ceramic Arts Center: 2015 Calendar and Resident Artist Program 

The Journal of Australian Ceramics 

Vol 53 No 3 November 2014 S16 

Cover 

Gerry Wedd. The Way of Coffee 

2014, terracotta; vanous dimensions 

Photo Grant Hancock 

This page : Jill Symes. 2014 

Publication dates 

1 Apnl. 17 July, 20 November 

Publisher 

The Australian Ceramics AssoCIation 

PO Box 274 Waverley NSW 2024 

T: 1300 720 124 

F: +61 (0)293693742 

mall@austrahanceramics com 

WNW.austrafianceramics.com 

ABN 14001 535 502 

ISSN 1449-275X 

Editor 

Vicki Gnma 

'NW'N.VICkignma com.au 

Marketing and Promotions 

Carol Fraaek 

Design 

Astnd Wehling 

www.astridwehling.com .au 

THE JOURNAL OF AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS NOVEMBER 2014 1

Contents 

REGULARS 

53 VIEW 1: A Review of The Course of Objects by Jan Guy 

56 VIEW 2: A Dialogue about Tableware 

Megan Patey reports on a recent exhibition at Sturt Gallery 

59 VIEW 3: Here&Now14: Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery 

A review by Laetitia Wilson 

62 VIEW 4: A World in Itself 

Caterina Leone visits Linda Seiffert's Undulatus exhibition 

66 SPACES AND PLACES: Sticks and Stoneware 

Cone 11 's constantly evolving studio at Abbotsford Convent 

68 SPACES AND PLACES: Blinded by the Light? 

69 WEDGE: The Bowl That Does Not Smile by Pru Morrison 

70 POCKET PhD: The Haptic Dimension of lived Experience: Ways of Knowing 

Alana McVeigh shares her PhD research 

72 EDUCATION: Glazed and Confused 

Lynda Draper reports on a new resident artist program at the Ceramic Design Studio Gymea 

74 STUDIO: Inside the Studio of Georgia Harvey 

Vicki Grima interviews Georgia Harvey about her ceram ics practice 

78 TRADE: Thrown: New Products from JamFactory Ceramics Studio 

80 POTTERS MARKS 

81 CERAMIC SHOTS 

84 ARTIST IN RESIDENCE: The Penland Experience 

Jackie Gasson reports on two magical weeks 

86 COMMUNITY: Through the Porthole 

Renton Bishopric coordinates a creative community project in Yeppoon 

89 ASSOCIATION: Australian Ceramics Open Studios 2014 by Shannon Garson 

93 GATHERINGS 1: The Rise and Rise of Queensland Indigenous Ceramics 

Katrina Chapman takes a look at recent developments after attending the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair 

97 GATHERINGS 2: Encore! 

Jane Annois prepares for the return of the French potters 

98 AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS TRIENNALE 2015 

102 AUSTRALIA WIDE: Reports from around the country 

The Journal of Australian Ceramics Vol 53 No 3 November 2014 $16 

Subscriptions Ma nager 

Rachael Hegh 

Proofreader, content 

Suzanne Dean 

Editorial Assistant 

Caterina leone 

Australia Wide Reports 

ACT: Sue Hewat 

NSW: Candice Anderson 

QLD: Emma MacGregor 

SA: Sophia Phillips 

l AS: Zsolt Faludi 

VIC. Robyn Phelan 

WA: Elaine Bradley 

Printed by 

NE.'WStyle Printing Co Pty l td 

41 Manchester St. Mile End SA 503 1 

CertifIed to ASlNZS ISO 14001:2004 

Environmental Management 

Systems. Printed on Titan Satin 

using 100% vegetable-based 

process Inks. 

2 THE JOURNAL OF AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS NOVEMBER 2014

Editorial 

Claire Atkins, Sue McGuinn and Vicki Grima on roster at the wood kiln 

Right: one of Vicki's pots from the firing 

Working alone in my studio is my preferred way of making, although it's a rare treat these days. 

More recently though, I spent time in Bali at Gaya Ceramics Art Center where I was participating 

in a woodfiring workshop with a group of Australian potters. It was a busy two weeks - five days 

making, two days packing, two days firing, three days having fun while the kiln cooled, then two 

days to unpack, clean, display for evaluation and admiration, and then pack the work to return home. 

My understanding of the collaborative effort it took to achieve that woodfiring has come to the fore 

as I prepared this issue. The sharing of skills and ideas, the discussion of possibilities and limits, the 

team rosters for firing and the sheer energy needed to bring that kiln to temperature was an amazing 

collaboration, something I could never have achieved had I been working alone. The combined energy, 

skills and determination of the group made many things possible for the individuals involved. 

This issue is full of wonderful collaborations - ceram icists working together and with others outside 

the ceramics field who bring a broad range of specialised skills to the table. Being open to the range of 

possibilities enables big ideas, shared resources and innovative solutions to happen. Whilst it's not for 

everyone, this way of working will expand our options for the future development of our already rich 

ceramics community. 

These pages also share the story of our 201 4 Australian Ceramics Open Studios in August - an 

event that illustrated how the strength and momentum of working together can bring rich and diverse 

benefits to the individual studio potter, to community groups, and to our broader public profile. 

And finally I ask you, dear readers, to support this unique print publication by 

buying a gift subscription for someone who shares your love of ceramics. ~ 

May the pages of this journal add to the enjoyment of your 

(,; t, J' 

summer holidays. ~ 


Contributors 

Ben Carter is a ceramics professional based in 

Santa Cruz, CA. He maintains a studio practice, 

teaches workshops and exhibits nationally. 

He is the creator and host of the blog and 

podcast www.talesofaredclayrambler.com. 

You can see an online portfolio of his work at 

www.carterpottery.com. 

I 

I 

Katrina Chapman is a freelance arts writer and 

researcher based in Far North Queensland. After 

many years working in arts management she 

now writes about contemporary Indigenous art 

specialising in the work of Queensland artists, 

and reviews Australian art publications. Katrina 

contributes regularly to national arts magazines 

and catalogues. Photo: Creative Cowboy Films 

M: 0427 903 649; E: katrinachapman8@gmail.com. 

Alicia Sciberras is a Sydney-based writer and 

part-time potter. She travels the world to visit 

international pottery studios, most recently 

visiting Shino Takeda in New York. With a 

background in Fine Arts after graduating from 

Sydney College of the Arts, her interest in 

clay forms stems from her formal training in 

sculpture. "Claywork is a form of meditation for 

me," says Alicia. 

E: alicia.scib@gmail.com; T: 0437 603 356 

I 

I 

Georgia Weaver has just finished a Graduate 

Diploma in Journalism at the University of 

Canterbury in New Zealand where she was able 

to write about her passions - arts and heritage. 

Growing up in a small town on the South Islands 

West Coast she was involved in the arts because 

her father is a ceramicist. 

E: georgia.l,weaver@gmail.com. 


Tribute: Margaret Tuckson 

Margaret Tuckson 

2013, at her home 

Photo: Chris Donaldson 

Margaret Tuckson 1921-2014 

In March 2014 Mary Faith. Director of the Grace Cossington Smith Gallery at Abbotsleigh, 

was fortunate to collaborate with Margaret Tuckson to present Living with Art, selected art 

and acquisitions by Margaret and Tony Tuckson. Th is is an abridged version of the exhibition 

catalogue essay 

Margaret Tuckson - her life and love, a potted history 

Visiting Margaret Tuckson revealed the extent that art can be embedded into a person's very 

existence. She surrounded herself with her own earthenware pottery, her husband Tony's impressive 



Margaret Tuckson, Plate 

undated, eanhenware 

woodfired. diam.23cm 

Photo: courtesy Grace 

(oss,"gton Smith Gallery 

abstract expressionist artworks. and many much-admired. pots. paintings. drawings. sculptures. and 

photographs. 

Dorothea Margaret Bisset was born in 1921 . shortly after her parents arrived from England. She lived 

in Warrawee and attended Abbotsleigh from 1935-1938. Margaret fondly recalled her school time and 

her life-long friendships . 

Margaret became a talented potter and teacher. She had memories from childhood of her mother 

creating interesting flower arra ngements in pots that had been collected in Cairo. during her parents' 

sea voyage from England to Australia. These beautiful. earthy-looking pots inspired the young Margaret 

Below: Margaret Tuci

Tribu te: Margaret Tuckson 

to appreciate pottery and decide, quite early on, that she would like to know how to make them. 

In 1939, as soon as school finished, Margaret commenced at the East Sydney Technical College at 

Darlinghurst, hoping to be a potter. Before she could elect pottery as a subject Margaret was required to 

complete two years of Introductory Art, part of which was Design with teacher Phyllis Shillito. However, 

the escalating war meant that Margaret was unable to continue her art study as she joined the home 

front war effort, commencing work in a Turramurra munitions factory. 

During the war Margaret met English serviceman Tony Tuckson and there was an instant connection 

because they both studied and shared great enthusiasm for art. In 1943 they married. After the war 

Margaret resumed her study at East Sydney Tech, eventually learning pottery from Mollie Douglas and 

Peter Rushforth. 

From 1949 Margaret and Tony lived at Gordon with their son Michael, and Tony soon commenced 

work at the Art Gallery of NSW where he became Assistant to and then Deputy Director. The architect 

Russell Jack designed a beautiful house for Margaret and Tony in the Wahroonga bush in 1962. This 

Wahroonga house is the home in which Margaret spent most of her years and where she had a studio 

in which she created her own work and taught pottery. Margaret collected pieces by potters whose 

works she greatly admired, including Aboriginal potter Thancoupie, Bernard Sahm, Peter Rushforth, 

Janet Mansfield and Pam Morse. She stayed with Gwyn Hanssen Pigott in France and had a very close 

friendship with Malina Monks and her family. 

At the Art Gallery of NSW Tony organised comprehensive exhibitions of Australian Aboriginal and 

Melanesian art. The trips with Tony to Papua New Guinea alerted Margaret to the incredible diversity 

of ceramic art and she realised that the creation and use of pots in Papua New Guinea villages should 

be documented before this art disappeared. Tony employed Patricia Mayas assistant curator at the art 

gallery. Margaret and Patricia discovered they shared great interest in pottery and planned field trips to 

Papua New Guinea to build research for a book. 

After Tony's too early death in 1973 Margaret became a positive force in ensuring he was recogn ised 

for his unique contribution to abstraction in Australia and for his leadership at the Art Gallery of 

NSW. Margaret also continued to pursue her research, completing many trips to Papua New Guinea. 

Sometimes she travelled with Patricia May, sometimes on her own, mostly self-funded but occasionally 

with a much-appreciated grant. Their visits included isolated regions and nearby islands. Margaret 

described an occasion in which she was travelling by canoe and could hear a hollow pounding sound 

Below: A photo from Margaret Tuckson's archive 

Below right: Margaret in her Wahroonga home with her New Guinea pot collection, 2012; photo: Karen Weiss


Margaret Tuckson, Large Bowl. c.2004, earthenware. borax glaze developed by Margaret Tuckson 

diam.20cm, h.9cm; photo; courtesy Grace (ossington Smith Gallery 

and she knew, even before they sighted the village, that there were potters at work. In 1982 Bay Books 

published The Traditional Pottery of Papua New Guinea, collaboratively authored by Margaret 

Tuckson and Patricia May. Their detailed research and beautiful photographs created what is possibly the 

pre-eminent scholarly text on the field. 

In 2004 Margaret was awarded the Member of the Order of Australia for 'her service to the arts 

through the promotion of abstract expressionist art and through research into and collection of 

indigenous art, including the ceramic art of Papua New Gu inea.' 

Her life was so active and so involved in the arts that it was with great pleasure that the Grace 

(ossington Smith Gallery at Abbotsleigh honoured her work and her involvement with the school. 

Margaret Tuckson passed away Saturday 16 August 2014. 


Vipoo Srivilasa, Battle of Old and New Power, 2012, porcelain 

Photo: courtesy artist and Edwina Corlette Gallery, Brisbane 

Awards

Gallery 

Delinquent Angel: 

John Perceval's Ceramic Angels 

Friday 29 August 2014 - 

Sunday 23 November 2014 

Shepparton Art Museum 

(SAM), Shepparton, VIC 3632 

For more information and 

interviews, go to 

http://percevalsangels.com 


Shards 

OMISSION 

I would like to apologise for an 

omission in the last issue of The 

Journal of Australian Ceramics, 

Vol 53 No 2, July 2014. The beautiful 

images of Belinda Winkler's work on 

page 89 were by Peter Whyte. We 

are forever grateful to the creative 

people who contribute to our journal 

and I am sorry to have missed this 

acknowledgement of Peter. 

I 

I 

FIRING KILNS 

by Benedict Brierley 

Published by Bloomsbury 

Academic, August 2014 

128 pages, paperback 

ISBN: 9781408185247 

Bloomsbury Visual Arts Series: 

New Ceramics 

RRP: $39.99 

www.bloomsbury.com!au! 

firing-kilns-9781408185247! 

I 

I 

I 

Love this blog called Past 

Imperfect! It's all about inventive 

repairs. Once regarded merely 

as damaged goods by antiques 

dealers and collectors alike, 

antiques with inventive repairs are 

justly receiving the respect they 

deserve. 

http://andrewbaseman.com/ 

blog! 

Peter Whyte is an international 

award-winning, commercial and fine 

art photographer based in Hobart, 

Tasmania . He has particular expertise 

in architectural, food, editorial, 

portrait. studio product, art and 

designed objects photography. 

T: +61362310440 

M: +61 (0)41831 9117 

E: peter@peterwhytephotography.com 

www.peterwhytephotography.com 

Editor, Vicki Grima 

like to hear more about the 

exhibition Here&Now 14 

featured on page 58 of this 

issue? Doug Spencer considers 

how contemporary WA artists have 

escaped 'fortress ceramica' in his 

conversation with the exhibition's 

curator Emma Mahany Bitmead 

and two of its artists, Andrea 

Vinkovic and Andrew Nicholls. 

www.abc.net.au/ 

radionationallprogramsl 

booksandartsdaily! here-26- 

now-143a-contemporary-waceramics!5728498 

In Firing Kilns, woodfire potter 

Benedict Brierley demystifies the 

firing process, explaining key 

methods and effects in simple, 

straightforward language. 

I Beginning with the basic 

principles, including heatwork, 

firing schedules and cones, 

the book goes on to cover the 

various types of kilns and kiln 

packing, oxidation and reduction 

firing, and then special firing 

I methods such as salt, soda, 

I wood, pit, smoke and raku . 

I Finally, it covers common firing 

faults and how these can be 

avoided to achieve consistent, 

successful results. Firing Kilns is 

a comprehensive handbook for 

anyone new to firing their work 

or for established ceramicist5 

WIShing to experiment with 

different firing effects. 

I Fancy a trip to Providence, 

I Rhode Island? 

NCECA 2015 will be held 25- 28 

March 2015 at Rhode Island 

Convention Centre. Founded 

in 1966, the National Council 

on Education for the Ceramic 

Arts (NC ECA) is a non-profit 

organisalion that fosters global 

education and appreciation for the 

ceramIC arts. 

I http://nceca.net 09eQQ 

'0"" ",. el"""'" .unl 

I 

Here is Summer, part of 

Monte Lupo Art's entry to 

the Swell Sculpture Festival at 

Currumbin, OLD in September 

2014. 

See Emma MacGregor's 

full report on 

http://australianceramics. 

wordpress.com!20 14! 10!29! 

monte-Iupo-arts-swelll 

'4 THE IOURNAl OF AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS NOVEMBER 2014

In Odober 2014. Ben Carter of Tales of a Red Clay 

Rambler Podeast fame. featured an hour-long interview 

with Journal editor Vicki Grima . In the interview Ben and 

Vicki talk about what makes a successful magazine in the 

digital age. the responsibility of documenting Australian 

ceramic history. and how TACA gives practical support to 

studio artists. To listen go to: 

http://carterpottery.blogspot.com.au/ 2014/ 10/ 

vicki-grimma-on-tales-of-red-clay.html or 

https:llitunes.apple.com/us/podcastltales-red-clayrambler-podeast/id523651655 

Recommend us! 

Your recommendation to friends and 

colleagues is very valuable. 

Share your back ISSUes. give a gift 

subscription. post on your blog and 

like us on Facebook. 

Thank you! 

Increasingly. chefs and ceramicists 

are working together and the results 

look good enough to eat . 

Read 'The Maker's Mark' by Rebecca 

Slater. published via broadsheet on 

15 September 2014. 

www.broadsheet.eom.au/sydneyl 

art-and-design/article/makersmark 

I 

I 

In September 2014, Anna Maas held the third (in a series of three) 

exhibitions of Australian ceramics. 

For each exhibition she has published a beautiful catalogue featuring 

essays, profiles on the artists and images of their work. The catalogues 

are available for purchase for $25 each plus $8 postage within Australia. 

Purchases can be made from either Montsalvat or Skepsi. 

E: montsalvat@montsalvat.com.au T 03 94397712 

E: skepsi@iprimus.com.au; Anna T: 0416 085 002 

----- 

CALL FOR PROPOSALS 

A 12 minute interview with Stewart Scambler about his 

recent exhibition in WA, Parched: Australia is a Dry Land, was 

featured on ABC Radio National. All works in his exhibition used 

local clays and were fired in his own very large kiln near York. 

about 90 minutes east of Perth. Stewart's kiln consumes only 

indigenous wood from trees which he grows from seed. 

Listen here: 

www.abe.net.au/radionationallprograms/ 

booksandartsdaily/stewart-seambler27s-27parched3aaustralia-is-a-dry-land271 

5671822 

THE JOURNAL OF AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS NOVEMBER 2014 

lS

~~~-- -------------------------- 

Focus: Collaboration 

Being Consumed 

By Adele Sliuzas 

--------------------------- 

"Earlier Ihis year I was invited by then emerging curator Adele Sliuzas 10 be pari oj a collaborations project 

incorporating cm/tspeople and Jood and wine producers of the Barosl"O Valley in SOIJ/h Australia. The makers were 

given Ihe choice of partner from a list of producers. Being a long-lime coffee addict J chose Ihe 801'ossa Coffee 

Roasters, a small/amity bus iness based around small baJches a/single source coffee beans and Q sustainable ethos. 

It was an in/eresting (Ind slightly la:ring project. It was hard 10 pinpoint what 'col/aboration' meant and 10 reconcile 

perceived notions of what each parlner was bringing /0 the project. In the end the work produced came auf of (I 

collaboration of ideas, philosophies and methodologies. The finished works are the ideas made concrete and are still 

real(v in fhe development stage." Gerry Wedd 

Be Consumed: Creative Collaborations from the Barossa is a project centred on collaborations 

between craftspeople, artists, designers and producers based in the Barossa Region. The history of the 

region joins its vitality of production, and narratives and traditions meet to form its distinct sense of 

place ~ Focusing on the strong ties between food, wine, art and design, this project is an exploration of 

Barossa culture. 

The relationship between food, wine, craft and design is thousands of years old. It is an intimate 

connection that relates to tradition and the ad of bringing people together. Within this exhibition, craft, 

design, and visual arts-based practices have been employed to investigate their relationship to produce. 

Food, wine and the experience of appreciating them have been explored in a way that considers the 

whole picture ~ W ith functional as well as poetic and conceptual outcomes, celebrating the produce is at 

the heart of each collaboration. 

Susan Frost, Piece Montee. 2014, installation detail, wheelthrown porcelain, var ious dimensions; photo: Brad Bonar


Right: Victoria McClurg and 

Honor Freeman 

Photo: Brad Bonar 

Below: Honor Freeman, 

Fromage Homage I, 2014 

slipcast, handbuilt porcelain 

h.15cm, w.52cm, d.30cm 

Photo: Grant HancocK 

The collaborative project has allowed each of the six ceramic artists to spend time with the producers 

and get to the core of what they do. The producers have welcomed each artist into their workspace 

to give a sense of what it is they do, and also why they do it. Sharing ideas over a cup of freshly made 

coffee or a meal, the relationships developed through mutual generosity. The artists have responded to 

the processes, traditions, stories and philosophies which playa role in their producer's business. 

Focusing on the textures and processes of cheese making, ceramicist Honor Freeman worked w ith 

Victoria McClurg of the Barossa Valley Cheese Company. The collaboration explores some of the 

interesting similarities between cheese making and ceramics, through a poetic tableau. 

Freeman's slipcast and handbuilt porcelain forms mimic the fresh, soft cheeses produced by McClurg, 

down to the last oozing detail. Soft matte glazes replicate white mould, while silky, glossy, glazes 

reference the movement and ooze of rich, ripe cheese. The tableau is luxurious and indulgent, and 

speaks about McClurg's passion for her product. 


Susan Frost and Claire Wood 


Susan Frost, P;ece montee, 2014, wheelth rown porcelain, 

various dimensions; photo: Grant Hancock 

Ceramicist Susan Frost immediately connected with Careme for the pastel colours used on their art 

deco-styled packaging. Similar to the range of hues that she uses in her own work, the sweet pastel 

colours linked the collaborators. Frost responded to Claire and William Wood's business through 

exploring the making processes, and the layer upon layer of rich butter used within the pastry. 

Taking inspiration from a book about Careme's namesake, master chef and patissier Antonin Careme, 

Frost's work references the decadence of post-revolutionary France and the birth of the modern patissier. 

Arrangements of ceramic pieces within the work highlight the relationship and the subtle differences 

between each piece. The collaboration has allowed a level of reflection, both on the processes and 

practices at Careme and on Frost's practice as a ceramicist. 

It is the repurposing and reusing ethos of Jan Angas's business at Hutton Vale Farm that attraded 

Stephanie James-Manttan. Working in ceramics as well as resin, James-Manttan began developing 

the work by casting a number of Jan Angas's treasured items. Designing a tableau containing both 

fundional and sculptural objects, James-Manttan sought to explore the relationship between form 

and function within objects that are given second, or even third lives. Here, eledrical insulators are 

repurposed as vessels, and twisted and rusted w ire become spoon handles. 

Stephanie James Manttan, A Glut of Insulator Cups, 2014, 

porcelain and resin, various dimensions; photo: Grant Hancock 

Stephanie James Manttan and 

Jan Angas; photo: Brad Bonar

Focus : Collaboration 

Wayne Meara, Porcelain Triptych, 

Fennel, 2014, underglaze colour and 

embroidery thread on porcela in tile 

each tile. h.25.5cm, w. 18.5cm, d.OAcm 

Photo: Grant Hancock 

Right: Ryan Edwards and Wayne Meara 


Masterful use of materials is at the heart of the collaboration between Barossa restaurant Appellation 

at the Louise, and ceramicist Wayne Meara. Appellation's executive chef Ryan Edwards shared his 

knowledge and skills with Meara, speaking about the relationships he has developed with local farmers 

and the ethos behind the experiences they create in the restaurant. 

Meara is a trained chef, so the collaboration with Edwards was a perfed fit. Working with porcelain, 

he has been inspired by the rhythm of the seasons and a sense of connedion between the landscape 

and the food and wine served in the restaurant. In Meara's distind style, the works are refined and 

considered, mirroring Edward's skills as a chef. 

Drawing on the history of the Seppeltsfield estate, ceram ic artist Prue Venables created a series of 

functional pots that represent the daily activities of the time. The Seppelts family, as well as many of 

their workers, fled religiOUS persecution in Silesia (a region of Central Europe now located mostly in 

Poland) in the mid-19th century, coming to the Barossa to start a new life. Venables uses the motif of 



Prue Venables, Avenue of Hopes and 

Dreams, Jugs 1 & 2,2014, Bennetts 

terracotta, white slip and tin glaze, 

thrown and altered, modelled handles 

various dimensions 


Below: Prue Venables with Nicole 

Hodgson, Tourism and Events Manager 

at Seppeltsfield Wines 


the palm tree to make reference to the Avenue of Hopes and Dreams, an iconic section of Seppeltsfield 

Road lined with date palms. Working a decorative palm frond design into the handles of the dishes and 

jugs, Venables seeks to celebrate the story of how the palms were planted, a story of people coming 

together through adversity. 

Paul and Janelle Amos, who are Barossa Coffee Roasters, have been working with ceramicist Gerry 

Wedd to produce a line of earthenware coffee cups. Interested in the ceremony of drinking coffee, 

Wedd created a coffee set that allows the drinker to slow down and appreciate the product. Taking 

influence from Indian chai vendors, who serve chai in a throwaway clay cup, Wedd produced a coffee 

cup with a low-fired clay body from Bennett's terracotta, a clay body sourced from the region. 

When you've finished drinking your coffee, the cup is essentially 'disposable' and can be smashed on 

the ground, breaking into small pieces and eventually returning to the earth. This process fits perfectly 

with Janelle and Paul's ethos of 'people and planet friendly' and small batch production. 



Gerry Wedd (right) with 

Paul and Janelle Amos at 

Barossa Coffee Roasters 


Below: Gerry Wedd. Blend 

(700 cups). 2014. terracotta 

various dimensions 


Extending beyond their normal areas of research, influence and inspiration. the collaborative process 

allowed the artists to examine the point at which their practice can intersect with something different. 

In working with these differences, they were made aware of the strong parallels with the processes of 

production and also within the inherent creativity and complexity of running a business. 

The objects and ideas that have formed out of the project connect to the collaborative relationships 

and the ethos behind the producers businesses. The works in the exhibition respond to histories, stories 

and characters that are unique to the region and welcome creative investigation. 

Be Consumed: Creative Collaborations from the Barossa 

19 July - 17 September 2014 at Jam Factory Seppeltsfield; 26 September - 29 November 2014 

at Jam Factory. Adelaide 

To watch the series of six short videos in which the collaborators discuss the project, 

go to: https:/Iwww.youtube.com/userlJamFactoryAUlvideos 


Cicada Waterfall 

A still moving co llaboration between 

Louise Boscacci and Elisabeth Cummings 

Louise Boscacci and 

Elisabeth Cummings 

Cicada Waterfall series 

2014, translucent porcelain 

diam. , 6-35cm 

Photo: louise Boscacci 

I began this collaboration in translucent porcelain with 

painter Elisabeth Cummings AO in September 2012. I had 

reached a stage in ceramics practice of inviting 'other hands 

and eyes' to synergistically explore what this wonderful and 

tricky material might become in an austral context - what 

the possibilities of Australian porcelain might be, beyond 

imitation or imported tropes from its long cultural traditions 

and innovations in China, Korea and Japan, and its later 

trajectories in continental Europe and Britain. Porcelain 

has again become the stuff of contemporary artists and 

designers excited by its expressive possibilities. But what 

might contemporary Australian porcelain - forms and voices 

invoked by this place and encounters of this place - become? 

I have been seduced by the medium for more than a 

decade after moving to set up a studio in the crisp clear light 

THE JOURNAL OF AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS NOVEMBER 2014 2)


of the New South Wales Southern Highlands in 2003, and have since composed multiple exhibition 

series carrying and exploring porcelain's cloudy translucence. Five years ago this evolved to exhibiting 

works with light itself - bespoke illumination to backlight or infuse them - and I continue on this (rather 

addictive) enchantment and its possibilities as a vocabulary in making. 

As an alumnus and contributor to the ceramic plate auction fundraiser organised most years by the 

Friends of the National Art School (FONAS), I decided to take the plunge and invite Elisabeth, fellow 

alumnus and revered Australian painter, to collaborate on making a work to donate. She said yes. This 

is where it started. I threw four simple forms on the wheel and she responded to them with brushwork 

using a purposely-restricted palette of oxides and terra sigillata from my practice. We were both pleased 

by the results, and decided after the auction to continue on this path and collaborate on a larger series. 

The simple, flat 'pans' formed on the potter's wheel come from the circular salt-encrusted clay pans 

that dot the coastal areas of the dry tropics of northern Queensland - in this case from remnant country 

I had been revisiting on the edge of the city of Townsville. In the dry months, they glisten as silver-white 

circles on an umber clay base, ringed by ground mats of red samphire. In the Wet, they fill with water 

and are reclaimed to the wetland mosaic to which they belong. I am most invested in distilling ceramic 

forms from encounters in certain affective places and living grounds of this continent, so the pans are 

one recent, unfolding rendition. I wondered how Elisabeth, a powerful translator of space, light and 

rhythmic place, might respond to these white circular 'canvases'- where the circle, rather than the usual 

square or rectangle of paper and painting frame, might lead her mind's eye and brush. 

I threw and first-fired a series of porcelain pans over the summer months of 2012- 13. When I 

collected the final batch of works from Elisabeth in late November 2013, the cicadas in the forest at 

her Wedderburn studio were in full aural force. They had claimed the scribbly gum trunks around her 

home and filled the air with a palpable, pummelling pulse. Sitting inside, drinking tea and talking about 

the pots and other things, the constant surround-wall of cicada sound evoked visceral recall of being in 

the presence of a wet-season waterfall in the tropics. Elisabeth was speaking about the cicadas, naming 

'black princes', 'green grocers' and 'floury bakers', so the porcelain series that finally emerged, and 

which returns me to that day and Elisabeth 's calm but pulsing creative space, ultimately named itself: 

Cicada Waterfall. 

louise Boscacci and 

Elisabeth Cummings 

Cicada Waterfall series. 2014 

translucent porcelain 

diam.16- 35cm 

Photos: louise Boscacci


The Cicada Waterfall series was exhibited in Elisabeth Cummings: a Still Life. 2014 

King Street Gallery on William, Sydney, Australia, 8 July - 2 August 2014. 

An extract from: 80scacci l, 2014, Cicada Waterfall: notes on a collaboration in porcelain 

with Elisabeth Cummings, Artist text, 1 March 2014; Elisabeth Cummings: a Still Life, 2014 

King Street Gallery on William, Sydney, Australia. 


2S


Broken Chimneys 

Georgia Weaver shares a story about Cheryl Lucas' replication 

project in Christchurch 

Following a devastating 6.3 earthquake in Christchurch, the home town of ceramicist Cheryl Lucas, the 

now familiar sight of damaged and broken chimneys emerged. As the city began to pick up the pieces, 

Lucas was asked to play her unique part in the rebuild. Better known for her larger pieces of work, 

she was approached to replicate a number of chimney pots, tiles, bricks and a chapel finial that was 

damaged in the rumbles. 

The process for making the replicas was intense; at times Lucas only had architect's drawings or 

an original shard to work off. For some of the chimney pots she had to test a lot of glazes to get the 

correct colour and sheen to match the surviving originals. She replaced the original lead glazes and saltfiring 

processes with colouring oxides and clear glazes, and then fired in an electric kiln. 

The pots, each weighing up to 55kg, took a long time to dry before firing. Allowance for a 10-12% 

shrinkage from wet to the fired state had to be carefully considered. Getting the diameter measurement 

accurate was otten critical. Taking into account the modern stainless steel flues and gas cowls meant 

there was often less than a centimetre of space for the difference between it fitting or not on the new 

chimney stacks. Amazingly, she estimated the size perfectly every time. 

Lucas said the time and effort she put into making the pots gave her much admiration for those who 

made them originally, but, worried by a certain sense of pretense and phoniness, she initially struggled 

with the idea of replicating what used to be. 

"To replicme ij' kind a/weird, bUllhen people want il back as it was. I suppose the whole rebuild thing is abolll . 

getting flew things to happen, reJoining some remnants of the old and being suslainable. We are now very conscious 

nOI only of the earthquake risks, but also oj burning cleaner fuels; both these factors prove a challenge when 

re-making things. And there:\' that other section which is historic. People want those link" with the pas/, and so I 

suppose Ihal s where I 'm coming in - helping 10 put il back.·' Cheryl Lucas 

Lucas has dated all 36 works made so far in the rebuild. "If they come down again, at least people do 

know they're replicas, and we're not trying to pretend they're anything else." 

Lucas also made 16 large relief tiles for another building. The tiles were press-moulded and made 

from paperclay making them thinner and lighter tor sitting atop the building. 

Although Lucas has enjoyed the challenge of making these pieces, as a solo practitioner who usually 

works for exhibitions she is ready for a bit of normality. " I certainly wouldn't want to do it every day, but 

it was a satisfying challenge to be able to contribute to the re-build, " she said. 


1 Dyslexia House; photo: Peter Rough 

2 Cheryl Lucas outside Riccarton 

House; photo: Grace Cochrane 

3 RICcarlon House pot in the kiln 

Photo: Cheryl lucas 



Fantasticology Tokyo: 

Faults, Flesh and Flowers 

By Karen Weiss 

Alex Kershaw, Muscles and Pea rs. 2011. from Fantasticology Tokyo: Faults, Flesh, and Flowers, 2011-13 

production still. HO video and sound, 25:06 min; photo: courtesy artist 

To work collaboratively is to work with what Ian Mills calls 'the in-between' and Alex Kershaw names as 

'social energy'. It is the energy living between us, the dark matter that occupies the space between the 

planets of ourselves and others. Because its nature is change, our real ity changes with it. The success or 

failure of the collaborative projed rests on whether we choose to resist these changes, or evolve. 

In his recent collaborative installation at the Art Gallery of NSW (AGNSW), Fantasticology Tokyo: 

Faults, Flesh and Flowers, Kershaw, an Australian video artist, brought together the disparate elements 

of ikebana, clay and bodies. Filmed while Kershaw was on a residency in Tokyo in 2011, the narrative 

video sequences are the result of active collaborations with several ikebana artists, a bodybuilder, an 

actor and a ceramic artist. After a series of conversations w ith the participants, Kershaw's ideas began 

to cohere around issues of imperfedion and perfedability, beauty and impermanence - a transmission 

without words. 



Alex Kershaw with 

Barbara Campbell-Allen 

Fantasticology Tokyo: Faults 

Flesh and Flowers, 2013 

In'laliation delall at AGNSW 

Photo: courtesy Alex Kershaw 



During filming, the unexpected happened. Japan experienced a severe earthquake and tsunami, 

Although not directly affected by the event himself, it had an immediate impact upon his Japanese 

collaborators, It created shifts and different resonances in the project, some images acquiring a deeper 

poignancy as a result. An ikebana arrangement originally intended to be cherry blossom, became 

peonies, white, the Japanese colour of mourning. The ikebana artist strokes the flowers, coaxing petals 

to fall. In a hospital room, a vase of scarlet and yellow tulips revives, droops, revives, like the rise and fall 

of a ribcage, On a rooftop in Tokyo, a young woman throws pots on a wheel, and near her, a yorishiro 

tree extends its twig antennae to the gods, 

Kershaw wanted to couple the video sequences with an expression of raw nature manifested in some 

form of material presence, For this, he contacted Barbara Campbell-Allen, a Sydney artist well-known 

for her woodfired work, 

The first brief. to make a slop pile of thrown pots, with an embedded video projector, was abandoned 

after the original venue closed down, Twelve months later. the invitation from the Art Gallery of New 

South Wales (AGNSW) came, with the use of a larger space. Together they dug up solid chunks of raw 

clay which Campbell-Allen Slowly dried and fired, 

They debated the concept of form and 

formlessness, settling on the need for a 

form, Via Skype, there was a to-and-fro 

over the form and how the rocks would 

be used, Campbell-Allen handbuilt two 

large jars. fired and unfired, as generic 

forms rather than art objects, one jar to 

be penetrated by the rocks with a scatter 

of shards, a tacit violence, Together they 

worked on the final placement of the 

elements of the installation, 

Of their collaboration, Campbell-Allen says, "It took me out of that ceramic enclave into a bigger 

sculptural arena ," Kershaw says, " I was really excited by Barbara's work " , [Collaboration] enables you 

to experiment in other mediums ,,, A certain shift happens in the work that would only be possible by 

working with other people," 

References: 

Kershaw, Alex. Interview with K. Weiss 

Campbell-Allen, Barbara. Interview with K. Weiss 

Mills, Ian. Shibli's Dog, Spinoza and the Dyaks. Spirituality Leadership and 

Management Conference 1999. University of Sydney. 

@ K. Weiss 2014 

www.alexkershaw.com.au 

www.barbara-campbell-allen.com.au 


Students of Eagle Junction State School, Eagle Junction State School Memor;aJ Garden Mosaic, 2013. 35sqm of 

handmade stoneware tiles; photo: Rozenn Leard Photography 

Eagle Junction State School 

Community Collaboration 

Stephanie ~utridge Field writes about a mosaic project in Brisbane 

Collaboration is more than the sum of the parts. A true collaboration generates energy, momentum, 

exchange, a supportive work atmosphere and sometimes even reclaims a space and creates a place, 

both in people's hearts as well as in the real world. 

Over 850 students from Prep through to Grade 7, along with all the teaching and ancillary staff 

supported by a band of committed parent glazers, turned tonnes of clay slabs into more than 35 square 

metres of handmade in-ground tiles (that met Australian Slip Standards) for the refurbishment of Eagle 

Junction State School's Memorial Garden and forecourt. 

The project began in late 2012 as part of the plan to rebui ld the oldest buildings of the school and 

the forecourt area after they had been badly damaged by fire in late 201 1. It had taken a year to 

re-build the 1895 tongue and groove Administration Block and several classrooms to their former glory. 

The forecourt area with its 1 OO-year-old camphor laurel tree had been a place students had loved and 

frequented. The vision was to create a new space - a place they would go to regularly and a place that 

they could call their own. 

In March 2013, Stephanie Outridge Field and the school principal introduced the project to the Year 

7 cohort of 75 students w ho were then charged with the overarching design for a mosaic within the 

re-designed forecourt. 


Fo cus: Collaboration 

left: Students working on tiles, 2013; right mosaic detail showing handmade stoneware tiles. underglaze and partially dear 

glaze, various dimensions; photo: Rozenn Leard Photography 

After three weeks of brainstorming, research and image development, consensus was reached . Three 

main themes were seleded: the history of the school from 1895 to 2013; the relationship of the school 

to its military service history (the forecourt was bordered on one side by the World War One Memorial 

Gates and on the other side by the world War Two Memorial Library with its restored stain glass 

windows and doors) and the relationship of the school and its community to the local area . Each of 

three Year 7 classes were allocated one major theme to research, develop and design. 

As the projed developed within the school it grew to include every student and gained momentum 

within the broader school community. The following is an excerpt written by one of the students, Lydia 

Connelly, for the school newsletter. 

"Mosaic mania has come to EJ! Ifyoll have lripped over the uneven concrete around fhe sundial in/rom o/the schon! 

and wondered why iI was built Ihat li/Oy. you are nOl alone! The Year 7 sfudenlj' are leading the charge 10 change this. 

Our mosaic projecI has become our Art and Technology units of study and we are rransforming the area life by file. 

But this is not simply a Year 7 initiative; the whole school is contributing. 

We have all learn/ lhe real process of creating an amazing arhvork and now we are going 10 share il wilh you so Ihol 

you might come in and lend a hand Without the help a/Stephanie Ourr;c/ge Field and Miss (Vanessa) Wallace our 

teacher. we wouldJJ 't have gO flen lhis /01: .. 

The whole school community embraced the mosaic. Each student is able to lind their own special 

tile to show off and it is 'the place' to meet. Eyes are drawn down to check out the brocade of tiles 

and there are always positive comments by both regular as well as special visitors to the school who are 

surprised and delighted by reading the story within the tiles. The timeline lists large and small events, 

such as the fi rst school ball in 1929 and the fancy dress outfits paraded, the date the lirst computer was 

installed, and the name of the lirst student. 

This handmade tile mosaic is more than the tiles; it is more than the sum of the parts. It is a time 

capsule, a record and a celebration . It is the way the Eagle Junction State School students and the 

community came together to build and re-build. 

https:llwww.facebook.com/stephanie.outridgefield 


Focus: Collabo ration 

Stephanie Outridge Field and students of Eagle Junction State School, Eagle j unction State School 

Memorial Garden Mosaic, detajl, 2013; photo: Rozenn Leard Photography 


Focus: Co llabora t ion 

A Recipe For Success 

Ilona Topolcsanyi works 'from paddock to plate' 

When Josh Lopez, head chef of Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA), approached 

me two years ago to create a bespoke tableware range for the gallery's restaurant, I had no idea it 

would lead to a string of opportunities to work closely with some of Australia's finest chefs. 

With each new commission I take a considerable amount of time to absorb and understand exactly 

what each chef is trying to achieve, what makes their menu unique, and how I can celebrate and 

enhance this through ceramics. In turn I seek to give an appreciation of the ceramic process so that 

together we optimise both the functionality and beauty of the finished pieces. 

In this way the range that ultimately appears on the restaurant table is the result of a direct 

collaboration in which the food and the personality of the chef not only influences the tableware, but 

the ceramic forms and surfaces developed frequently give rise to new plating and menu formats. It has 

been a fascinating journey learning how very subtle changes in form and surface can alter the degree to 

which a sauce will pool on a plate, for example, and how critical this can be to the overall success of the 

dining experience. 

My most recent commission came from Dan Hunter who has created his highly acclaimed restaurant 

'B rae' at Birregurra in southern Victoria. The cuisine there celebrates Dan's intimate connection with the 

property with many of the menu's ingredients being grown on site. I will be developing and enhancing 

this idea by employing local clays and minerals, and ash collected from their woodfired oven, to create a 

regional range of surfaces directly linked to Dan, his food and the property. 

There is a richness that arises from these collaborations that I always look forward to - especially 

when it results in being treated to an exquisitely prepared three course meal, on the house 

Ilona Topolcsanyi + Colin Hopkins = Cone 11 Ceramics; www.cone11 .com.au 

From Harvest: Art, Food and Film, 2014. Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane © QAGOMA. photographer Shane Holzberger 

and stylist Jaime Reyes; photo: Brenda Fawdon

Focu s: Collaboration 

Mend 

John Papworth bowl with repa irs by Kate Hill and Bree Claffey 

In a recent gallery show at Mr Kitly, curator Bree Claffey and artist Kate Hill worked together on the 

project Mend, an exhibition of pottery repaired using the Japanese method of Kintsugi. 

This method of 'gold repair' dates back to the tea masters of Japan in the 16th century where stories 

were first recorded of tea bowls being regarded more beautiful for having been broken then mended. 

The Japanese cultural and aesthetic idea of mono no aware (lit. 'the pathos of things') is encapsulated 

beautifully in the practice of kintsugi. It is an awareness of the transience of things, the realisation 

that all th ings are impermanent. and with that realisation an appreciation of their beauty is heightened. 

The deep appreciation of the ephemeral spring blossoms in Japan is another example of th is uniquely 

Japanese aesthetic. * 

W ith Kate Hill having learnt to repair pottery in Japan, and being a ceramicist involved with Mr Kitly 

for the past few years, her coming together with Bree Claffey for Mend made penect sense. Both 

women share an appreciation for clay not only as a medium, but of Japanese culture, aesthetics, and the 

richness of working with other people for a deeper conversation . 

Having agreed to collaborate across all aspects of the work, the two teamed up to collate broken 

or chipped pottery from their personal collections and also gathered from friends and fam ily. Along 

with the physical pieces, they collected an anthology of personal stories which spoke of individual 


-----_.---' 

36 THE JOURNAL Of AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS NOVEMBER 2014

-------------------------------- ---- -- -- - 


relationships to the objects, whether that be how they came to find the piece, or how it broke. These 

37 stories were compiled into a catalogue that accompanied the exhibition. 

Working with old rather than new, Kate Hill spent hours in her studio learning the material history 

of each piece of worn pottery, noting the inside parts of clay unexposed to glaze or the firing process, 

and the way that cracks re-join. She spent time with each piece, tracing fine lines and bringing parts 

together and watched as old things reformed to become a new whole. 

Along with this practical interaction with the pieces, Bree and Kate held conversations with artists 

and pottery owners about their making of the piece or the relationship to the piece, and were therefore 

able to consider the social history of each. The project became a myriad of conversations and sentiments 

from people surrounding the objects. In the same way that the pottery pieces were brought together, so 

were the people involved in this project. In a rare experience, artist and collector entered into the same 

conversation and exhibited on the same platform. By sharing the stories between maker and collector, 

this exhibition offers a melding of these often separate worlds. 

'Please see the essay 'A Tearoom View of Mended Ceramics' by Christy Bartlett for further reading on 

the Tearoom aesthetics of kintsugi. 

http://mrkitly.com.au 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kintsugi: 

Kintsugi (Japanese: golden joinery) or Kintsukuroi (Japanese: golden repair) is the Japanese 

art of fixing broken pottery with lacquer resin dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or 

platinum, a method similar to the maki-e technique. As a philosophy it speaks to breakage and 

repair becoming part of the history of an object, rather than something to disguise. 


Amanda Hale and Karen Farrell, M eeting Place, installation, 2014, eucalyptus branches sanded back and white washed, 

ceramic and wire, various dimension s; photo: courtesy artists. Above right detail 

Emerging into Landscapes 

Karen Farrell and Amanda Hale talk about moving on from TAFE 

Our friendship was forged at Hornsby TAFE in the early 2000s through eight years of shared classes 

in Hand-Building, Certificate 4, Diploma and Advanced Diploma. We had amazing teachers who were 

willing to share their knowledge and passion yet ensured that we were grounded in practical knowledge 

and good technique. 

After TAFE we continued to work in our own studios and kept in touch over regular coffees, but 

it was never the same as sharing the camaraderie of the studio space . So, at the beginning of 2013, 

Karen suggested that we should collaborate. Immediately we locked in one day a week in our diaries 

to work together. Between the two of us working in various jobs part-time, Wednesday became "our" 

workday. We also researched the competitions coming up and found Harbour Sculpture at Woolwich 

(the inaugural year) and set off to do some research . Visiting the site was a must, wandering slowly and 

brainstorming ideas, as well as taking lots of photos to help w ith concepts later. 

Ideas were thrown about - the good, the bad and the ugly - but we reminded ourselves of what we 

are good at, what we liked, and what we could do . .. and the idea for an installation sculpture finally 

came in a 'Eu reka' moment! it evolved from a couple of thoughts into a confident, definite idea w e 

quickly began work on ... drawings, researching materials, firing and glazing, and photo-shopping our 


Amand a Hale and Karen Farrell, Many Being One and One Being Many, detail and installation, 2013, various dimensions 

Photo: courtesy artists 

ideas into a document. The first proposal was entered. We followed this with proposals for another 

three competitions and waited. 

We were thrilled to be accepted into two competitions, Harbour Sculpture 2013 and the Willoughby 

Sculpture Prize 2013. This ensured we had deadlines giving us time to make the work and troubleshoot 

any problems. It went remarkably smoothly. 

We seemed to time-manage well ... if we felt that more time was needed we would meet at the 

weekend as well as our Wednesday to give some breathing space. The making of the work was just like 

TAFE days, full of ridiculous conversations, silly songs and lots of laughter. 

We knew that we would need more than one day to install our sculpture, but in fact it took two 

of us three full days on our hands and knees to set the work up. We only questioned ourselves at the 

end of the first day after watching many sculptures come in on the back of a truck and set up within 

an hour. After three days we felt that we had also become a part of the site along with our sculpture! 

Performance installation sculpture? 

Since the two installations in 2013 (winning the people's choice award in both) we have also been in 

the UWS Sculpture Prize 2014 and Harbour Sculpture 2014 (where we won the people's choice again). 

Our collaboration will continue as we are still brimming with enthusiasm and ideas, and it's so rewarding 

to work together, sharing ideas, successes and laughter. 

www.harboursculpture.com.au 

www.amandahale.com.au 

https:/ I www.facebook.com/karen. farrell. 7127 



Pia Murphy + Rhys Lee 

Alicia Sciberras tells their story of collaboration 

Pia Murphy first encountered clay like most Australian children, as a young child in the classroom, 

recalling a particular interest in sculpting ashtrays and animals. 

She continued working with clay well into her teens, which sparked her interest in enrolling at the 

Victorian College of Arts, and it was here that the artist was seduced by the printmaking studio. After 

graduating, Pia went on to work as a master printer. 

In 2009 Pia rekindled her passion for ceramics and bought a block of clay. Her first sculpture was 

inspired by images in an issue of National Geographic. This work of a mummified baboon was soon 

followed by an investigation into primates, hybrid animal forms and figures, which led to her first body 

of work, the Primates and Hybrid Animals collection, and that proved to be the turning point for her 

taking on pottery as her full-time job. Clayworking was more accessible than printmaking. 

After showing a collection of figurative sculptures in 2010 at C3 Gallery in Melbourne, Pia was 

overwhelmed by the response. This praise gave her the confidence to channel her self-expression into 

the clayform. "The work had flowed out of me so calmly and naturally that it was then that I felt 

excited to continue with ceramics, " says Murphy. 

Having worked in ceramics for a year, Pia decided to move to a new shared studio in Melbourne 

with artist Rhys Lee. The creative duo went about their separate practices for months until a spark was 

ignited and so began a collaboration of life and studio practice. 

Rhys Lee is an Australian painter best known for his figurative works that evoke a sense of otherworldliness. 

Realising his two-dimensional paintings could be expressed in clay opened up new forms of 

self-expression for Rhys and he began to collaborate with Pia whilst also making his own pieces. 

The creative collaboration kicked into full gear after Rhys decided to collate an entire exh ibition based 

on working in partnership with close artist friends including Rob McHaffie, Matt Hinkley and Heidi 

Yardley as well as Pia Murphy. Rhys had previously glazed some of Pia's ceramic pieces, but not with 

strict collaborative intention. This partnership between Rhys and Pia spurred future collaborations and 

the couple now reside and work out of their peaceful home with their son in Anglesea, an hour and a 

half from the Melbourne CBD . 

Recently the creative duo has been working more on solo projects but their work appears to be 

intuitively synced . For an upcoming show the couple are collaborating, but differently - Rhys is using 

vases handbuilt by Pia as the subjects for two of his paintings. This shift in process is interesting because 

suddenly the solo efforts have a meeting point, whereby one cannot be complete without the other. 

Follow both on Instagram: @piamurphy_ ; @rhyslee 

40 THE JOURNAL Of AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS NOVEMBER 2014 

-.________________ __.______ __ __ _ ________________...1


1 Rhys lee, Baboon, 201 1, gouache 3 

on paper, h.64cm, wASem 

2 Pia Murphy, Baboon, 2011 

earthenware with acrylic wash 

handbUlll, h.21cm, w.13.Scm, d.14cm 

3 Rhys lee, PM Red Dog, 201 1 

oil on paper, h.66cm, w.7Scm 

and Pia Murphy, Red Dog, 2011 

glazed earthenware, handbUllt 

h.30cm, w.1Scm, d.49cm 

Photos: Jeremy Dillon 

THE JOURNAL OF AUST RALIAN CERAMICS NOVEMBER 2014 41

Focus: Co llaboration 

terraluca 

terraluca (earth and light) is a creative collaboration between Anna, a ceramicist, 

and Tahra, a w riter. Founded while catching up over another cup of tea, terraluca 

creates beautiful, functional and raw ceramics, each enriched with words that are 

simple and true. All terraluca pieces have at their core a commitment to warmth, 

honesty and simplicity. 

http://terraluca.com 

Right: Anna Kaineder and Tahra BaUlch, Sharing Bowl, 2014 

wheelthrown stoneware, lustre, decal detail, h.ll .5cm w.2 1 em 

Below: Anna Kaineder and Tahra Baulch, Plenty Bowl 

Cuddle Cup and Salt Pinch Bowl, 20 14, wheelthrown 

stoneware with decal detail, vanous dimensions, tallest, h.9cm 

Photos: Larry Rindfleish 



Maria Chatzinikolaki and Jorge (riollo-Carrillo, Pr;sma, 2014, Walker's PBlO3 clay, WVG2S0 glaze and American Walnut 

Jigger-jollied by hand, fired to 1220"(, oxidation; photo: Anna Fenech Ham, 

Prisma 

A collaboration between Maria Chatzinikolaki and Jorge Criollo-Carrillo 

The best properties of porcelain and wood have come together to create a refined and crisp object to 

be used on a daily basis, Inspired by the concept of 'belonging' and 'collaboration', Prisma has been 

designed to exalt the cultural habit of drinking a cup of coffee, in this case enhancing the interaction of 

the user and the object through a more interesting and formal relationship than a cup and its saucer. 

Prisma is an espresso cup solution made up of two complementary components: each component 

needs the other in order to achieve their function, The design has two individual manufacturing 

processes, For the porcelain component, clay is pushed into moulds to form the shape of the diamond 

and then the dip (where the coffee pools) is jigger-jollied, When dry, the object is bisqued to gOODe then 

sanded before being glazed and then fired again to 1220 0 (, For the timber component, solid wood is 

dressed to Smm thick, The radial saw is then set up to get a compound cut of identical and individual 

timber faces that will be assembled, sanded and carefully finished, The ceramic cup is inserted into the 

timber sleeve, creating an attractive interaction between the two diamond shaped elements, related by 

their sharp angles and crisp edges, evoking a precious gem, 

www_mariachatzinikolaki.com.au; http;//criollo-carrillo.blogspot.com.au 


A unique collaboration between ceramic artist Belen Berganza and sculptor Stephen Tero came about 

thanks to an introduction by a mutual friend. 

The surprise came from how freely ideas flowed and were respected and accepted. There was much 

discussion but the dialogue seemed egoless and the ideas endless. 

Belen is a ceramic artist who lives and works in Fremantie, Western Australia. She studied ceramics for 

four years at the School of Arts, Francisco Alcantara, in Madrid. 

Stephen studied Design for Industry at Perth Central TAFE . He has exhibited works in Sculptures by 

the Sea in Perth and Sydney. 

Together the two have developed works that use the translucent qualities of porcelain, and the 

contrasting earthbound feelings of various recycled materials. 

The works are lit from within using LED lights. Stephen and Belen draw inspiration from their 

surroundings, with the coastal environment of Fremantie also reflected in their use of recycled materials. 

The pitted surface of steel becomes a rough sea. A billow of porcelain cutting through the steel is the 

sailcloth of a square rigger. 

44 THE JOURNAL OF AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS NOVEMBER 20 14


Ideas were shared through 

conversation, research, sketches 

and photographs, along with 

computer-generated and 

handbuilt models. and trial setups 

were made to test their ideas. 

The process was intensive but 

inspiring and built a depth of 

understanding that goes beyond 

the visual presence of an object. 

www.bigbamboojewellery.com 

http://stephentero.com 

Opposite page: 

Stephen Tero and Belen Berganza with 

Clinch , 2014, slipcast porcelain with 

crystal glaze. , 280"(. recycled aluminium 

charred jarrah wood and recycled mild 

steel with LED lights, h.120cm. w.30cm 

d.20cm 

Above left: HelEm Berganza and 

Stephen Tero. Walker. 2014, hand· 

carved porcelain, 12800(. recycled mIld 

steel and a (ailway tie down plate with 

LED lights. h.66cm. w.31 cm, d. 1 Scm 

left: Belen Berganza and Stephe n 

Tero. Flower of Life. 2014. hand-carved 

porcelain, 12800(, recycled mild steel and 

jarrah planks with LED lights. h.2scm. 

w.13cm. d.6scm 

Photos: Alan McDonald 


4S


Ngapartji Ngapartji 

Ben Carter tells about his time spent at Ernabella Arts 

"Ben:r way a/working was palya [good) - he underslOod ngapartji ngapartji {I do something/or YO II, YOli do 

somelhingjor me] and Ihar (here was an exchange happening here. He gOllO be in our heautiful COlllllry and he 

raised his own money using Kickslarler /0 pay his way." Milyika Carroll 

I first came to Ernabella Arts in 2012 full of energy, excitement and expectations. My goal was to learn 

about Anangu story (Tjurkupa) while also teaching ceramics. One of my primary research interests is 

storytelling, and I thought this would be a fantastic opportunity to learn from a culture very different 

from my own. I wanted to photograph the symbols used in Anangu Tjurkupa so I could document the 

narrative arcs for my blog. 

After settling in I began to make pots for the artists to decorate. Th is allowed me to assess their 

preferences, style and skill level while also learning which forms I should teach them to make. As they 

worked I noticed the tendency for Anangu to fill every available surface with mark making. The designs 

were compulsive, fresh and remarkably intuitive. No one sketched before they started on a pot, but 

their final drawings were cohesive and unified in their composition. We worked side-by-side, mostly in 

silence, with occasional questions from me about their traditions. Their responses were pleasant, but 

short and often not related to my questions. Confused, I chalked it up to the language barrier. 

My trip flew by and soon I returned to my job in Shanghai, China. I excitedly told my friends about 

the experience: being in the landscape, eating bush tucker, and most of all my observations about 

Anangu art. What I couldn't tell them was any Anangu story. In four weeks I hadn't heard any stories. 

The trip was life changing but the journalist inside me came away unsatisfied. 

Fast-forvvard two and a half years and I'm on my third return trip. I now chat at length with the very 

same people I thought didn't speak English . The language barrier I perceived was actually an expectation 

barrier. The more I questioned and pressed for answers the more the artists retreated . I have come to 

understand that Anangu stories are sacred and only to be shared with outsiders on rare occasions. If I 

do hear a story I understand I have been given a special gift, that of knowing my Anangu friends and 

their Tjurkupa . 

Over successive trips I developed intimacy with the artists, not by asking questions but by working 

towards the common goal of making art. We developed what in China is called guanxi (relationships), 

a concept it also took me a while to understand while living in Shanghai. In Pitjantjatjara it's called 

ngapartji ngapartji (I do something for you, you do something for me). It's not collaboration per se, 

but it often looks like it from the outside. 

OppoSite page: 

Above: Pepal Jangala Carroll working; photo: courtesy artist. Below: Alison Milyika Carroll; photo: courtesy artist 





I have come to see my role in Ernabella as one 

of service. I offer my skills to help other artists 

produce the art they want to make. I continue 

to make pots for the older artists to decorate 

and I teach younger artists how to make their 

own forms. With every visit, and every pot, my 

relationship with the artists gets stronger and our 

work together grows more ambitious. 

Ben Carter is a ceramics professional based 

in Santa Cruz, CA, He maintains a studio, 

teaches workshops and exhibits nationally. 

He is the creator and host of the 'Tales of a 

Red Clay Rambler' blog and podcast. You can 

see an online portfolio of his work at 

www.carterpottery.com. 

www.ernabellaarts.com.au 

Above right: Alison Milyika Carroll, Ngayuku Walka 

Below: Ben Carter and Paul Tja Tjuna Andy 

Below right: Work by Pep.; J. ng.l. carroll 

Photos: courtesy artists 

4B THE JOURNAL OF AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS NOVEMBER 2014

GAYA CERAMIC ARTS CENTER "Where clay and culture come together .... .. 

A team of maste rfu l ce ram icists. designers. and production artists in a setting of unsurpassed 

trop ical beau ty. and exquisite cultu ral craft sma nship: Gaya CAC is a place to ex pand horizons. 

to share inspirati on and techn iques. to exper im ent. to grow and to dream. 

Specialized workshops throughout the year. Continuous classes on a weekly basis. and a vibrant 

Resident Artist program all fill our calendar with exceptional international instructors. students 

and artists alike. 

Why come half way arou nd the wo rld to l ea rn th rowing skills, or to fire a kiln? In our view. 

setting is everything. Our annual calendar of workshops reflects this: approaching clay not only 

from the standpoint of a skill-build ing experience. but also as a creati ve explorati on. tapping 

stim uli from landscape , architecture, cuisi ne and cu lture that cannot be found anywhere 

but here in Bali. 

Gaya CAC coordinates every detail so that participants can focus on the experience at hand 

-and that experience is indelible : Bali offers fecundi ty at every juncture 

-the creative interpretations are endless.

UPCOMING 2015 WORKSHOPS 

WEAVING IN CLAY & SMOKE: Exploring Surface in Raku 

with CANDONE WHARTON 

Februarrl6-Z8.2015 

Drawing upon tile InImIasufabIe breadlll of exguisite textile tradition and Intricate 

aafts work to be found In Bali. this WlIlkshop will weave together inspiration and 

t~ in a focus on surface possibilities In clay. After visiting a wide range of the 

finest craft experts- f ~4¥ers to ikat weavers. wood carvers to silver smiths. 

and more-;- ~t nts wiUW", ~!l! direct response to the vast 

DEMYSTIFYING FORM: Clay Play and the Teapot 

with FONG CHOO 

May 24 - June 6, 2015 

The s\IJ~ of form has always b~n a tore interest in Fang Choo's career as a studi~ 

potte(. For nearly 20 yeals he has focused - consciously ana meticulously - on a single 

form: the teapot. At this workshop each participant will focus on their own personal 

study of form. Participants will develop a perspective on proportions from large to 

small. while the nature of "play" will always be, in the foreground. Throughout the 

workshop there will be demos on types of bowls. mugs. lidded forms. vessels. etc ... 

.. ___ ....,.~ and then how each facet of the piece is formed. along with discussions on how the 

e aggregated into an aesthetically pleasing whole. 

EAST MEETS WEST: My Approach to Clay 

with MITSUO SHOJI 

August 9 - 22, 2015 

After 8 years of experience working as a ceramic artist in bot/) Japan and Australia. . 

Mistuo Shoji truly repre~ents a master' technique. concep . arid understanding Of the 

dynamic confluenct Of eastern an Tn per~eclives in clay. Revllafing his 

s)lllth~s of culttJre$. 'M-sensei WI e his personal CO!III~' method~ in 

hend'-lI'ujlding and slflli.-treftmenl n' Iso demonstratin h!§ cOmprehensiVe 

knowledtJe of traditionatJ.Jpanese-stvle slab-building and w eel-t/lrowl!.!ll.. brush 

work. s.ltp, ~rJt and color iAlay. Parflcipants \'till be tutored in silJl_e'lW!u Kiln 

cillls!Iuetion. as well as ~ence a tradifional:.Japanese, black-firing technique to Obtain a beautiful dense black color 

burnished surface of clay.

JllESlORY BalIHD THE SURFACE 

_lMEJ DEBOOS 

()tbiIJer, -17. 2015 

Join renowned ceramicist and educator. Janet DeBoos. in this two week exploration of 

the surface of simple forms. Working at all stages of making from wet clay. through 

leather-hard and dry clay. to bisque and over-glaze techniques including decal use. 

china painting and enamels. De Boos will lead participants to focus on how to 'see' 

where to place decorations and how to plan and utilize different surface treatments on 

a single piece. Decoration will require partiCipants to explore the imagery and 

iconography of their own places and cultures as well as local material gathered during 

the workshop. There will be discussion of pattern development and how judicious use of decoration can enhance formal aspects. 

as well as create the plot. the crescendo and the conclUSIOn of the "story" of each piece. 

CUUNARvnAY. f'od & DEign 

with HILLARY KANE & MARY JANE EDL£SDN 

November 1 -14.2015 

Returning for it's third incarnation. this is a remarkable workshop. for any clay-lover 

with a specific interest in the intimate relationship between fooil and tnIl NeSsel in 

which it IS presented. Formal design considerations of shape. texture. color and scale 

will !be explored in direct relation fa specific unusual gastronomiC selections. 

Participants will work closely with ceramic instructor and visiting culinary expert. 

creating utilitarian pieces as well as sampling and'PreJ!aring the exquisite recipes that 

will be served upon them. The two-week worKshop Will cufminate. appropriately. in a 

feast of the senses.

GAYA.CAC Rlsident Artist Program "Sharing this contagious passion for clay. .. .. 

CAC as we continue the growth of an artistic oasis, ~ professional 

from all over the globe for periods of intense .. fIIa.¥d growth and 

creativi!;y. 

For two-month stints, we invite carefully-selected artists to bring ~:t 

exchange creatiVe energy, 

ideas, contacts, concepts, t~es, and 

general enthusiasm for 

burgeoning community of artiltl. _esigners, 

students and patrons, 

CANDIDATES: open to any mature artist working in clay who is interested in focus and 

exchange, 

and exposure. 

annually lIIItil 

for the following year.

View 1 

The Course of Objects: 

the fine lines of inquiry 

A review by Jan Guy 

It is always a delight to see a shift in the way art is presented to its faithful audience. So often the stock 

standard exhibition view we are given is the obligatory line, grid and plinth. And on most occasions, for 

ceramic objects, it is difficult to change this familiar format unless the works are large and freestanding. 

At times this can be very unfortunate when one stands across the road from a gallery and the view 

is a sea of plinths, leaving the artworks appearing as floundering afterthoughts. Therefore it was a 

pleasure to see that for The Australian Ceramics Association biennial exhibition for 2014, The Course 

of Objects: the fine lines of inquiry, invited curator Susan Ostling had abandoned not only the 

traditional white box plinth, but the need to present artworks in isolation. 

I wonder though about the rationale of Ostling's deliberate pairings of artists' work and 

simultaneously wonder whether the artists shown felt their artistic visionftrajectory was tainted or 

enhanced by her curatorial decisions. As artists we can be fragile in terms of what we think we are 

communicating, however sometimes we are blind to aspects of our own practice while others see them 

with clarity. This interventionist strategy of the curator is not new to contemporary art and in fact now 

often operates at a much deeper level, surprisingly from the conception of the artwork. The curator 

becomes a co-creator, a generator of unseen ideas for the artist. The roles are blurred, and not everyone 

is comfortable with this. 

Kate Dorrough, 2012-2014, stoneware, handbuilt, tallest h.SScm; photo: Vicki Grima 


S3

View 1 

In terms of the strength of Ostl ing's decisions, the outcomes were varied (which may not be a bad 

thing). Some pairings, such as that of Lynda Draper's Henry and Julie Pennington's Untitled 1, were a 

subtle act of near genius. While the catalogue had Pennington's work echo the lush, visceral surfaces of 

Simone Fraser's Contained Impressions series, in the exhibition space Pennington's ceramic 'drawings' 

seemed to almost resemble an imagined internal skeletal structure of Draper's sentimental ruminations 

on the sad absurdities and joyfulness of childhood from the parent's viewpoint. 

Alternatively, Dianne Peach's A Sentence of Teapots was made grammatically incorrect by the 

establishment of a very intimate and tumultuous relationship with the precise forms and surfaces of 

Tania Rollond. It is difficult to decide whether the clashing of this weave added dynamism to the overall 

energy of the exhibition or if it was a claustrophobic jumble where the subtleties of both artists' work 

were lost. Similarities, in this case the echoes of geometry, like familiarity, can breed contempt. 

The proximity of the works of Prue Venables and Toni Warburton paradoxically created a wonderful 

synergy that highlighted the idiosyncratic strengths of the individual works of these artists. The hybrid 

domestic forms of Venables that so often reveal a search for sterile perfection in the handmade, 

alongside Warburton's borrowed vistas, cloud dish series exposed the gentle stutter, the signature 

of Venable's loving act of creative assemblage. Her pale watery glazes seemed to be the result of 

Warburton's cloud 'form-ations' opening up. The stillness of Venable 's objects, in turn, sign posted the 

rugged, process-driven scapes of borrowed vistas. Together and apart these artists drive home the 

fecundity of experience to be found in constructed and wild natures. 

Julie Pennington, 20 14, Southern Ice, handbuilt, tallest h.28cm, and right, lynda Draper, 2014, earthenware, handbuijt, 

tallest h.95cm; photo: Vicki Gri ma 


View 1 

Throughout the exhibition the trestle tables used as display units allowed a greater sense of presence 

for the majority of works when compared to the usual fare of oversized plinths. However, the success 

of each coupling varied because the tables were standardised. This created some very awkward 

relationships and resulted in the heavyset, primal vessels of Kate Dorrough appearing like quarantined 

Neanderthal bowling balls perched to crash to the floor. As with the Peach/Rollond coupling, the 

strange presence of Dorrough's work possibly generated an oasis of dense energy across the exhibition 

generally that allowed delicate and quiet work such as that of Shannon Garson and Susan Frost to find 

consideration. 

The title of this exh ibition revealed itself to be fitting. Susan Ostling, through her own astute selection 

of and engagement with the objects exhibited, truly presented the viewer with a 'fine line of inquiry'. It 

is rare today to encounter an exhibition that still has the power to make one think and feel, that opens 

the artists' eccentric approaches to us, and through the interplay of artworks establishes a space for 

potential new narratives surrounding each artist's work for both audience and artist. 

To view images from the exhibition go to the Australian Ceramics Flickr folder: 

https:/lflic.krls/aHsjXUw1P6 

Jan Guy is an artist and writer who maintains a broad practice and interest in ceramics with a 

specific focus on sculptural and installed works. She is a lecturer in ceramics in the Sculpture 

Studio at Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney. 

Front table, left: Prue Venables, 2013-2014, Jingdezhen porcelain; front table, right: Toni Warburton; Rear table, left: 

Simone Fraser, 2013-2014, tallest, h.66cm; rear table, right: Fiona Fell, 201 3-2014, stoneware; photo: Vicki Grima 


View 2 

A Dialogue about Tableware 

Megan Patey reports on a recent exhibition at Sturt Gallery 

Tableware was the theme of an exhibition called Back to the Table held recently at Sturt Gallery, 

Mittagong. Curator Vicki Grima presented thirteen emerging ceramic artists to "explore the role 

handmade ceramic tableware plays in our everyday lives, to present us with ceramic proof of their 

thoughts and give us a reason to ditch the mass-produced imported tableware that floods our 

homemaker stores, and to open up a dialogue." 

On a perfect spring day in the Southern Highlands of NSW, I visited Sturt Gallery to see the exhibition 

and learn more. The effect when you entered the gallery was strong. Constraint dominated the 

room. The palette was minimal - repeated use of blue and white, dark oxide on light body, and soft 

woodfiring colours echoed around the walls. One hundred and sixty-five pots were placed on dark 

timber tables, laminated tables, trestle tables, wooden chests and wooden planks. Wall spaces were 

used as well for display. Most of the work was small in scale, but the space was unified by distinct 

groupings of thirteen artists' works with the clever use of the tables providing the visual continuity 

uniting this exhibition. 

Ashley Fiona McHutchison's beautifully resolved work dominated one corner. Using line, she 

paints traditionally shaped teapots, coffee pots and cups and saucers onto her pieces. This imagery 

generously fills the space of the handmade plates, bowls and cups giving an effect that is exuberant 

and welcoming. Sarah O'Sullivan also plays with a sense of the traditional turned into a contemporary 

idiom. She combined found metal objects with finely decorated thrown ceramic pieces to create a series 

of table settings and tea parties. Janetta Kerr-Grant painted thick lines of iron oxide slip onto porcelain 

bowls, vases and dishes to create a dramatic patterned graphic tempered by the effects of the high 

temperature firing. 

back to the table 

~·IIt.....,....,tto ....... -

s 

~-- 

,~ , 

~ 

4 

1 Zak Chalmers 

2 Hayden Youlley 

3 Alexandra Standen 

4 Dawn Vachon 

5 Ashley Fiona McHutchison 

Photos: Vicki Grima 

Three of the artists in the show chose to work with woodfiring, producing the subtle colours and 

soft forms typical of this medium. Zak Chalmers, Joey Burns and Alexandra Standen produced pieces 

which complement food beautifully. Unadorned surfaces continued in the small geometric shapes made 

by Hayden Youlley and the black and white minimally shaped pots of Andrew Widdis. Dawn Vachon 

remembered her past in her childlike forms using raku clay and pale pastel colouring, and Andrei 

Davidoff was fascinated by lettering. Diverging from these themes were the two large colourful pieces 

by Rachel McCallum in which she used heavily applied colourful glazes to drip with colour, texture 

THE IOURNAL OF AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS NOVEMBER 2014 

S7

View 2 

1 At the opening of Back to the Table on 14 September 2014 

Back row (L to R): Hayden Youlley. Joey Burns. Ashley Fiona 

McHutchison, Sarah O'Sul livan, Janetta Kerr·Gran t. Serena Rosevear 

and Vicki Grima. Front row: Oawn Vachon and Rachael McCallum 

2 Kate Jones 

3 Sarah O'Sullivan and Serena Rosevear 

4 Janetta Kerr-Grant 

Photos: VicKI Grima 

and presence . Kate Jones made a selection of intriguing light sets from terra cotta clay. whilst Serena 

Rosevear thoughtfully used low wooden boxes to complement her glazed porcelain bowls. 

This exhibition was beautifully placed w ithin the calm ing atmosphere of SlUrt Gallery. It is always 

challenging to create a unified exhibition w ith group shows. and Vicki Grima succeeded. I left the room 

realising that contemporary ceramic tableware was indeed well and truly alive. 

Megan Patey is past Director of Sturt Contemporary Craft Centre. 

She makes tableware in her studio at Colo Vale in the Southern Highlands of NSW. 

www.sturt.nsw.edu.au 


View 3 

Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery 

A review by Laetitia Wilson 

Reprinted with permission from The West Australian, 12 August 2014 

I write this from a conflicted point of interest. This is not a review so much as what could be called an 

inview - or intimate review. In my role as curator of academic programs at the Lawrence Wilson Art 

Gallery, I sense the fuss around installing new exhibitions as background buzz which suddenly clears to 

reveal galleries full and gleaming like fresh honey pots. 

Here&Now l4 is especially so, with striking lighting bouncing off the textures and sheen of new 

works of contemporary ceramicists. It is the third iteration of the annual Here&Now formula, where an 

emerging curator is given the opportunity to showcase their skills in an A-class venue. This year's curator 

is Emma Mahanay Bitmead. 

The crucial point of departure of this show is a shift in the making of ceramics from an insular practice 

to an expanded field embedded within the visual arts paradigm. Modernist ideas of medium specificity 

have lost relevance in what has been called a post-medium condition - so say the theory pundits. In 

other words, considering art as based purely within disciplines is no longer relevant in an era in which 

different media collapse into one another and many artists take the concept as a starting point and then 

determine how best to manifest it materially. 

What we see in this exhibition is ceramics embodying traditiona l techniques in the age-old form of 

the useful object, pushing expectations attached to the medium and collapsing it into the other art 

forms such as sculpture, ready-made, video and installation. 

WarrICk Palmateer's pots with a spectrum of Pippin Drysdale's ceramics in the background; photo: courtesy The West Australian

View 3 

The extreme of this is Jacob Ogden Smith's work, Video Edited 

in a Way as if to Imply Meaning. It is a crudely humorous work 

that no doubt gets under the skin of the more purist potters. 

YouTube videos of pottery tutorials are edited in slow motion, 

distorted and overlaid with Greek and Egyptian symbols, in front 

of which are displayed found pots with decals of the same symbols 

fired on to their surfaces -meaning, mythology and symbolism are 

tossed into a vessel of vacuousness. 

Broken Silence by Luke Aleksandrow is a video projected on 

to the ground which displays pottery smashing down. The sound 

of this pierces the rest of the gallery space, which, as you might 

imagine, is disconcerting considering the number of fragile objects 

in the room. It is another wry take on the traditions of ceramics 

reminiscent of Chinese artist Ai Weiwei's famous Dropping a Han 

Dynasty Urn. 

More in the direction of sculpture is a work such as Andrea 

Vinkovic's Shape of Thought. It looks like an organic, curvilinear 

geodesic dome springing out of a red earth base. It is luminescent 

from afar and intimacy with this work reveals a surface that has 

been carefully crafted to mimic the texture of ocean matter and the 

patterning effect of the movement of waves over time. 

Overall, there is close attention to the highly stylised display of 

the works. Warrick Palmateer's bold, textured vessels rest proudly 

on a custom plinth that dramatically slashes through the centre 

of the gallery. In the background, Pippin Drysdale's assortment of 

ceramics forms a sublime spectrum of colour from dawn to dusk 

along the length of one wall. 

In her catalogue essay, Mahanay Bitmead places a lot of emphasis 

on the above-mentioned argument of the breakdown of the 

Fortress Ceramica, as ceramics move into the broader visual arts. 

This is at the expense of teasing out the voice of ceramics today 

and focusing on what makes the selected artworks relevant in the 

here and now. Fortunately, however, the exhibition speaks for itself 

with artworks that are delicate, audacious, poignant and humorous. 

Here&Now14 ran from 25 July - 27 September 2014 

www.thewest.(om.au 

www.lwgallery.uwa.edu.au/exhibitions/han14 

1 Andrew Nicholls 

2 Ian Dowling (foreground) and Greg Crowe (background) 

3 Warrick Palmateer (foreground). Stephanie Hammill (left back.ground) 

and Pippin Dry,dale (right background) 

4 Andrea Vinkovic (foreground). Ian Dowling (left background) and 

Greg Crowe (right background); photos: courtesy The West Australian 

60 THE JOURNAL Of AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS NOVEMBER 2014


View 4 

A World in Itself 

Caterina Leone visits Linda Seiffert's Undulatus exhibition 

Glaciers move in tides. 

So do mountains. 

So do olilhings. 

John Muir. Letters from Alaska 

Linda Seiffert's recent solo exhibition, Undulatus, 

from the Latin meaning 'wave', was a storm surge 

of passion and creativity. Seiffert was a winner of the 

Expose Program run by the Blue Mountains Cultural 

Centre, which promotes a selection of emerging local 

artists. Her work is strongly influenced by the natural 

surroundings of her home and studio yet Seiffert is 

not interested in reproduction. The sculptural forms 

transformed the gallery space into a psychedelic 

playground where nature, its geometry and processes, 

and all its varying forms cavort like participants in a shamanic ceremony to which the viewer was invited. 

The first work emerged from of the wall like the patterns of the tide, increasing in size Fibonaccistyle. 

This same ambiguous formation was recreated on the floor of the gallery, where two such forms 

mimicked each other, arising from gravel, a primordial water creature surfacing, the spine of a mountain 

range, moonlight on waves. These sizeable forms were constructed from large snaking coils, pinched 

and then left to dry before being broken up to allow them to fit in the kiln for firing. Afterwards, they 

were glued together again. Seiffert came to see this physically demanding process as a metaphor for 

the human experience of being whole, being fractured, and then finding wholeness again : a wave-like 

process beautifully linking purpose with form and meaning with making. 

The works compelled the viewer yet simultaneously disconcerted with their size, their strangeness 

and the incongruity with their surrounds in the white cube gallery. This tension was felt throughout the 

exhibition. The artist asserts that her works aim to question "the alternating experience of belonging 

and separation" . The result was a feeling of communion stemming from the organic forms, that 

awakens that oft-hidden, primeval part of us that is nature and animal, that is pulled by the tides. Yet 

the fantasticality of Seiffert's forms - half-remembered fragments from dreams, from the collective 

unconscious - shames us into the knowledge that this aspect of our psyche is largely dormant. Seiffert 

wakes us up to our disconnection whilst making us crave connection. Similarly, the works seemed out 

of place and yet somehow completely belonging in the space, completed by being there, by being 

Above: linda Seiffert with Undulatus (detail), 2014, ceramic, river stones, h.55cm, w.500cm, d.280cm; photo: Ona Janzen 

OpPOSite page: 

Foreground: Linda Seiffert, UnduJatus, 2014, ceramic, river stones, h.S5cm. w.1100cm. d.280cm 

Background: Linda Seiffert, Unseen and Hidden, 2014, ceramic, various dimensions; photo: Ona Janzen 


- 

Top: linda Seiffert, Sanctum, 2014, ceramic, sand, dead vegetation, various dimensions; photo: Dna Janzen 

Above Left: linda Seiffert, Unseen and Hidden, 2014, ceramic; Enduring Matter, 201 4, ceramic. sand, Spanish Moss 

(Tillandsia usneoides), various dimensions; photo: Ona Janzen 

Above right, foreground: linda Seiffert, Primordial Hunch, 2014, ceramic, glue, various dimensions 

Mid-ground: linda Seiffert, Propagation Series, 2014, ceramiC, sand, various dimensions 

Background: linda Seiffert, Unseen and Hidden, 2014, ceramic; photo: Camille Walsh Photography 

viewed. The glimpses of one's reflection in the occasional lustre surfaces were a reminder of one's 

physical presence and added a further level of interaction, further heightened by Seiffert's choice to take 

the works 'off the plinth' to allow them to co-exist organically with the space. 

Gauging by visitor reactions, one work seemed to be the favourite of most - Sanctum. Cloud-like 

on the white wall, blue yet earthy, the bases were reminiscent of icebergs, layers of rock and earth, 

stalactites, plants pulled whole from the earth, things usually hidden. Confident in their exposure, they 


View 4 

Visitor in front of 

linda Seiffert's Sa nctum 

left: installation view of 

Undulatus 

Photos: Ona Janzen 

drifted serenely, carrying their cargo of soil and trees, an imaginary landscape influenced by Japanese 

Zen gardens, bonsai and a passion for Hayao Miyazaki's films. The influence of the latter was palpable 

throughout the exhibition - Seiffert shares with Miyazaki a confidence in the surreal and theatrical as 

messengers of truth more potent than reality or the imitation of it. Both are unafraid to be playful, to 

be joyous in the act of creation, which is essentially an act of play. Speaking to viewers in the gallery, 

Seiffert asserted, "You can't copy nature. It is the epitome of beauty." If nature is the epitome of 

beauty, then art is the epitome of beauty possible by humankind. Seiffert has given nature a human 

sou l and bared her own in the process, vulnerably offering up her work to the audience, and it is deeply 

appreciated. An elderly woman who came back to see the show twice in one day, gushed: "I can't look 

away. I'll be forever grateful for seeing it. That woman and her work is a great gift to mankind." 

http://lindaseiffert.weebly.com 


Cone 11 Design + Ceramics Studio; photo; Mat Butler 

Sticks and Stoneware 

Cone 11'S constantly evolving studio at the Abbotsford Convent 

When we were first shown a vacant, unrenovated studio space in the Mercator Building at the 

Abbotsford Convent, it was a dark, slightly eerie room where the windows had been uncaringly boarded 

up, the ceiling was rotting and the floor was composed of large bluestone slates, many of which were 

'floating' suspiciously. 

Today it is the home of Cone 11 Ceramics, the sun-filled space we knew it would become once the 

timber 'blinkers' were removed from the windows, the ceiling was renewed and the walls given a fresh 

coat of paint. 

Of course we worked for months after it was handed over to create the space that it is now with our 

much admired 'works in progress' wall (that also conveniently hides a spaghetti-like confusion of service 

pipes), a small shop, and a kiln room that disappears behind three generously scaled sliding doors. Our 

wheels are arranged on a timber floor that hovers above the flagstones we were unable to tame, and 

this also functions to define a type of performance area when visitors drop in to see us at work. 

Just when we thought we'd created the perfect studio, the convent kindly agreed to increase our 

leasehold by almost double! So we're back on the drop saws and drills again. Who knows, we may even 

get to throw a pot sometime soon 

Ilona Topolcsanyi + Colin Hopkins = Cone 11 Ceramics 

www.cone11.com.au 

66 THE JOURNAL or AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS NOVEMBER 2014

Spaces and Places 

Colin Hopkins throwing in the studio at Cone 11 Ceramics; photo: Amy Woodward 

Ilona Topolcsanyi in the studio at Cone 11 Ceramics; photo: Jorge de Araujo 

THE JOU RNAL Of AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS NOVEMBER 2014 67

Colin Hopkins, Bongo Pendant. 2014, translucent porcelain. glazed stoneware, h.llcrn. d.13cm; photo: Gina Milida 

Blinded by the Light? 

Colin Hopkins' handthrown ceramic luminaires are among the finest 10 emerge in the clirrelJl shift towards handcrafted 

lighting and are in keeping with hi~i architectural leanings. being minimalis/ie, SClilplural and concerned 

wil" Ihe object s role in the visual whole of an environment. Gillian Serisiel; Australian Design Review, FehrllatJ, 2014 

In an era where we are increasingly confronted with the unadorned and apparently fashionable 'bare 

bulb' as a lighting solution, I am reassured by Tennessee Williams who nearly 70 years ago in A Street 

Car Named Desire gave Blanche DuBois permission to boldly state, "I can't stand a naked light bulb, 

any more than I can stand a rude remark or a vulgar action ... " 

As both an archited and a lighting designer I have always been deeply concerned with the influence 

natural and artificial lighting can have on the emotional quality of any space or place. A key feature 

of our shared archetypal vision of paradise is, after all, filtered light - the leafy shadows dancing lazily 

between a perfectly clear blue sky and a pure white beach. Unfiltered light, on the other hand, is the 

psychological equivalent of being lost in the desert - heat, glare, discomfort ... the naked light bulb. 

When designing any light I am first and foremost searching for an abstraction of that deeply desired 

leafy filter. Even though the inspiration for my Dancing Light range was an inverted and up-scaled 

version of my favourite chawan, it was not so much the shape but the complexity of the surface in 

which I saw the greatest potential for developing a shade. I continue to take inspiration from the raw 

immediacy of the many and varied hand and tool gestures found in traditional Japanese and Korean tea 

bowls, and apply this to my abstraded porcelain surfaces. 

The combination of translucency and the irregularities created by the surface treatment has produced 

the light filtering that I seek, promoting qua lities of soft diffusion and a quiet, layered movement - in 

essence, always the tree's shady canopy hanging between sun and sand. 

www.porcelume.com.au 


The Bowl That Does Not Smile 

by Pru Morrison 

This story has no beginning or end, so, for the record, and according to the rules of my craft, I'll 

begin from the moment I walk into the studio. 

A small ham-fisted bowl is whistling a tune that's mildly familiar in an off-putting way. Flat and 

out of sync. The National Anthem, I wonder. The tune wavers and goes out. 

"Don't sit on your ass wasting time," the bowl screams when I flop into the armchair. A smirk 

passes over its form. "It's a long time since we've seen you and I've been compiling a shit list of 

critics, curators and colledors, oh and makers, you're number three on that list." 

"Oh," I sigh. 

It continues with gusto .. "Now I'm a plain bowl without pretensions to style and I don't 

wish any unpleasantness but all that colouring in is so monotonous and crude. There's no good 

in me speaking delicately, you're an 'artist' and unless I put things plainly you'll take pleasure in 

misunderstanding me." 

I turn away and begin to pour a mould. Harmless little bowl, I think. 

It persists, "You inflict upon us (I think I can speak for all the bowls present) a deliberate act of 

material and visual stereotype. To start with, we don't give a damn for sitting on a staid and boring 

plinth. The plinth is pompous; it doesn't ennoble and elevate us towards excellence and respect, 

rather it leaves us bleating faintly like weak sculptures. We're artworks, but artworks of the 

everyday and the plinth does no more than signify a removal from the everyday to f* **k knows 

what." 

I am irritated now. I get up from my moulding bench and walk over to the bowl and study it. 

What an ugly bowl it is - a short body with no lift, but it has a splendid appearance of power. I 

want to tell it, "You're wrong", to provide an effective defence, but I know I have no argument 

strong enough. 

Weakly I reply, "You live out of the world. It's not that simple; anyway I made you. I'll put you 

where I bloody well please ." 

" Humph, " replies the bowl with disgust. "What a lame-ass! Next you'll be telling me that craft 

foreplay = art climax." 

The other bowls snigger. 

"Look bowl, I know this much. To be an artist you have to be a good technician first. You have 

to learn your craft and you have to train. This takes time and is a very thorough and disciplined 

part of the ongoing learning process. If you have a talent, then the technique takes it somewhere 

... somewhere further. " 

The bowl yawns in my face, "Well, you're really busting some funky moves there little lady, but 

your words are polluting my atmosphere." 

The bowl then pronounces, "Let it be known 'artist', that henceforth we've voted to claim our 

liberty by holding our breath in the kiln with the objective to self destruct; we'll f* *kin' blow. It'll 

signify our emancipation." 

I head towards the door. 

"Wait, you're not to go yet!" shrieks the bowl. 

Switch. I turn out the light and set off for the pub. 

"Bloody bowls," I mutter. "(rafty buggers with a capital c."

Pocket PhD 

--------- 

The Haptic Dimension of Lived 

Experience: Ways of Knowing 

Alana McVeigh shares her PhD research 

Alana McVeigh, Helix, 2014, Southern Ice porcelain 

Photo: Kevin Gordon 

Alana McVeigh, Osmosis. 2010, Southern Ice porcelain 

Photo: Acorn 

Aristotle proposed that information gained by our external senses informs our internal senses through 

the simple action of touch. (Stewart, S in Howes, D (ed). 2005) 

Our feelings, acknowledged through sensory understanding, are at the core of artistic experience. 

The artist's creative responses are primarily driven by seeing, feeling and touch. Indeed, how we operate 

within the world is driven by our sense organs and through these, the phenomenon that is our world 

becomes real through our experiences. As author John Dewey maintained. " Life occurs through the 

sense organs." (John Dewey 1939) 

The sense of touch is particularly relevant for artists working with clay. Through the delicacy of touch, 

essential information informs the brain and cognitive processing begins. For the ceramicist, cognition 

and sensory information co-exist and operate in unity throughout the time of creative production. 

My interest in this realm of knowledge was initiated through my own attempts to develop ceramic 

skills. Touch became paramount, and the dominant sense activated. when creating wheelthrown 

70 THE 10URNAL OF AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS NOVEMBER 2014

Pocket PhD 

able to feel the exact proportions and weight. It 

was then that the sensation of touch and sight 

became instinctive, and the understanding of 

knowing became apparent. 

As I began to learn this skill, I became aware 

that there is a knowing or understanding that is 

learnt by doing and making, and that language 

fails to articulate the same level of response.This 

understanding is developed through the senses, 

in particular the sense of touch, allowing touch 

to guide more readily than sight. 

Alana M cVeigh, Medicine Ha t, 2012 

Plainsman's porcelain; photo: artist 

forms. I became aware of how the sensitivity 

and delicacy of touch (when handling the clay) 

began to instinctively inform me when the walls 

of each form were at their peak. At this stage 

they were fine enough to achieve my aim to 

allow light to penetrate the form, making it 

translucent. I also began to understand that 

touch also enabled me to sense the exact 

amount of clay to leave when forming the base 

so it was slightly weighted without being visually 

evident, a necessary consideration to give each 

piece stability and balance. The constant sensory 

information became heightened when the 

streams of connections were flowing, ie. touch, 

sight and mental state were connected so I was 

The premise for my PhD examines how this 

specific hybrid of knowledge (sensory, implicit 

and tacit knowing gained through practical 

experience), has evolved and influenced 

Australian contemporary ceramic studio 

practice. Further outcomes of the research 

offer an awareness of how Australian artists 

have responded and reacted to this knowledge 

through the emergence of a conscious art form 

that challenges and blurs the historical division 

between art and craft. 

E: alanamcveigh@live.com.au 

Alana is represented by Emerge Art Space 

wwvv.emerge-art.com.au 

References: 

Dewey, John. 1939. Intelligence In The 

Modern World: John Dewey's Philosophy. 

New York: Random House, Inc. 

Stewart, Susan. 2005. Empire of The Senses: 

The Sensual Culture Reader. 

Edited by David Howes. New York: Berg. 


Education 

Glazed and Confused 

Lynda Draper reports on a new resident artist program at the 

Ceramic Design Studio Gymea, TAFE NSW Sydney 

Out of the chaos of the decimation of the art school 

in TAFE (as a result of defunding, restructuring and 

educational 'reform'), a phoenix is rising. The past few 

years have been challenging within the Arts education 

sector. How to create and maintain an educational 

environment that is sustainable, stimulating and different 

from other providers was a question that needed an 

urgent response. 

My reaction was to im plement an experiment - 

a ceramic residency program involving invited artists, 

curators and writers who mostly had little or no ceramics 

background . 

The aim of the program at Ceramic Design Studio Gymea is to foster a diverse contemporary dialogue 

between both established and emerging artists and ceramics students and to cultivate a broader 

engagement between the studio and the arts industry. I chose to invite artists and industry specialists 

who have an established practice and reputation to foster a varied conceptual and methodological 

approach to the clay medium and, by extension, to the Ceramic Design Studio. 

The project has brought to the learning environment a cross-pollination of industry knowledge, 

concepts, media and processes. Resident artists have presented a series of inspiring workshops which 

have fostered a stimulating educational environment and opened up opportunities for students to 

exhibit work in exciting new ways. 

The residency has provided a unique opportunity for undergraduate students to network with 

established artists and the opportunity for artists to experiment with the clay medium and have access 

to the technical knowledge of the staff and students as well as specialised equipment and purpose-built 

studios. 

The work produced during the residency has been exhibited widely including Leahlani Johnston's 

solo exhibition at Paris CONCRET in France, David Capra, Jodie Whalen and Leahlani Johnson's 5010 

exhibitions at Artereal Galley, Sarah Contos works at Roslyn Oxley9 and Spring 1883 Melbourne, Chris 

Dolman and Paul Williams' SAFARI collaboration at Alaska Projects, Paul Williams' solo exhibition at 

Gallery 9, Connie Anthes' and Justin Cooper's collaborative work at Archive Space, Harriet Body's 

exhibition at MOp, and Emily Hunt who is exhibiting her ceramic works from the residency in Primavera 

2014 at the MCA. 

Above: Emily Hunt, Floating Sorcerer's Foot, 2014, glazed stoneware, h.14cm. w.2S.Scm. d.8.Scm 

Photo: Sofia Freeman 


Madeleine Preston, Tanagras Archive - Objects, installation detail. 2014, ceramics, found glassware 

various dimensions; photo: courtesy lynda Draper 

I would like to thank the artists involved in the residency program at the Ceramic Design Studio. Their 

amazing energy and enthusiasm has reinvigorated the educational program and aided the development 

of a new student base from diverse arts backgrounds. 

In December 2014 there will be an exhibition Glazed & Confused at Hazelhurst Reg ional Gallery and 

Arts Centre, 13 December 2014 to 1 February 2015, a celebration of the residency outcomes. 

Long live the phoenix ... until next time. 

Artists include: David Capra, Emily Hunt, Joan Ross, Chris Dolman, Mikala Dwyer, Connie Anthes and 

Justin Cooper, Harriet Body, Leahlani Johnson, Paul Williams, Peter Sharp, Sarah Contos, Madeleine 

Preston, Jodie Whalen, Glenn Barkley and NOT, Josie Cavallaro, Karen Black, Frank Nowlan, Marc 

Etherington, Rosie Deacon and Giselle Stanborough, and Tom Polo. 

Ceramic Design Studio Gymea, TAFE NSW Sydney offers specialist ceramics courses 

for beginners and professionals. 

http://sydneytafe,edu,au/showcase/ceramics-sutherland-gymea#1 

https:llwww.facebook.com/ceramicdesignstudio 

Lynda Draper is a visual artist and educator who teaches at the Ceramic Design Studio 

Gymea TAFE NSW Sydney. 


Stud io 

Inside the Studio of 

Georgia Harvey 

Vicki Grima interviews Georgia Harvey about her ceramics practice 

Vicki Grima: When did you first use clay and what did you make? 

Georgia Harvey: A few years ago I became attracted to the burnished clay figures and bowls in the 

Pre-Columbian Collection at the National Gallery of Victoria, which I had surveyed as part of my role as 

objects conservator. My initial forays into clay involved a lot of time playing, with no specific intention or 

direction, just feeling my way. The first piece I fired was a small burnished dome with two round lizardlike 

eyes. It was just something that fitted nicely into the hand and felt nice to touch. 

VG: Where is your current studio? 

GH: I'm one of about 50 artists in a warehouse on the banks of the Maribyrnong River in West 

Melbourne. It's close to home, well maintained, and affordable. But excitingly I'm making plans to bu ild 

a studio in my backyard. Most of my studio time is at night, after my young kids are in bed . It can be a 

pain to drag myself to the warehouse if it's cold or I'm feeling lazy! And it's even worse to drag myself 

away again when I'm totally immersed in something in the middle of the night. I fire at home so I have 

to transport all my work when it's green - I'm looking forvvard to removing that risk from the process. 

VG: What is the most satisfying part of your work? 

GH: Each firing tells me something new about the materials and sends me off on a new tangent. 

The sparking of ideas seems endless. 

74 THE IOURNAL OF AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS NOVEMBER 2014

Georgia Harvey, work in progress for her upcoming exhibition Magic Mountain. 2014, earthenware, glazes, oxides, 

underglazes, various dimensions; photo: courtesy artist 

VG: Why is clay your chosen medium? 

GH: I studied painting at art school, but gave it up years ago; I'd lost the impetus to paint. I'd never 

been interested in ceramics previously. I think I associated it with brown stoneware and kooky teapots, 

but through my work as a conservator, studying materials in depth and seeing amazing ceramics from 

around the world, the scales fell from my eyes. The clay is responsive to my hands, but the firing process 

provides a contribution that is beyond my direct control (although, based on my prior experiences, I 

choose how to fire): it's like a collaboration w ith an unknown part of me. 

VG: What type of clay do you use) 

GH: I'm still exploring, but I was instantly besotted by the handling properties of Feeneys SRT. If only 

the 'T' was optionaJi 

VG: Type of glaze? 

GH: Anything with some frit 41 10 and light magnesium carbonate added. 

VG: Type of kiln/firing? 

GH: I have a friend's tiny electric Ward kiln on long-term loan. It dates from the dawn of time but still 

fires marvellously. It's fully manual with no controller, so if I start a firing late I can still be up at 3am 

adjusting the temperature. For a while I was using it without a pyrometer, just checking for glaze 

maturity visually. That was an interesting education, but it's a bit more relaxing with a gauge! I mainly 

use the kiln for raku. I do most of my bisque and some earthenware firing at Northcote Pottery Supplies, 

where I now work, which as well as being cost- and time-effective has allowed me to start making 

larger work. I've also recently participated in a couple of woodfirings with the Daylesford Clayspace 

Co-op. They are a wonderful crew and it's a fun way to fire, though nothing yet has surpassed my utter 

addiction to raku. 


Studio 

Studio by night, 2014; photo: courtesy artist 

VG: List three favourite things you listen to while working. 

GH: I have a dinky old radio that swivels between PBS, RRR and RN depending on the time and mood. 

I love the sound of a storm lashing over the warehouse, with the sawtooth skylights rattling over my 

head. Occasionally there will be a party in the events venue next door with loud music and hijinks in the 

car park; it's a pleasant peripheral soundtrack that makes me feel a bit more connected to the outside 

world while still in the 'zone'. 

VG: How do you sell your work? 

GH: I'm really focusing on exhibitions - not specifically with an eye on selling but in terms of what I 

want to produce. It was a relief when I realised that I don't have to shoehorn my work, which is usually 

non-functional, into a retail context. I had a solo show earlier this year and another is approaching, so 

76 THE 10URNAL OF AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS NOVEMBER 2014

Studio 

Georgia Harvey, Dragon (detail). 2014, nak.ed raku, oxides, terra sigillata. underglaze, sequins. beads, Iycra, Dacron 

vanous dImensions w.63cm; photo: Kate Robertson 

Below: Georgia Harvey, pieces from the Dust into Husk exhibItion, 2014, earthenware, raku, various dImensions 

Photo: courtesy artist 

that's where most of my efforts go. I do take on commissions occasionally, and sell pieces when people 

contact me directly through my website. I was very excited recently to have a favourite trio purchased by 

the City of Whitehorse for their art collection. They are great supporters of contemporary ceramicists. 

VG : What is your favourite part of the ceramic process? 

GH: It's all my favourite: making ... experimenting ... hobnobbing with other clay obsessives .. . opening 

the kiln .. ' exh ibiting and finding that others enjoy what I make. 

VG: What is the dreaded job that never gets done? 

GH: Nothing is dreaded ... I just don't have enough time to do everything I'd like to accomplish. There 

are certainly tasks that get pushed to the backburner, but I have to operate within pretty defined limits. 

I think that this can actually be a positive thing in terms of creativity. 

VG: What are you fussy about? 

GH: Fussy isn't a term I'd associate with me. I tend to err on the side of sloppiness, if anything. 

It's a significant part of my aesthetic! 

VG : Which single piece of ceramics would you most like to own? 

GH: A turtle by Bernard Dejonghe. 

VG : How can people contact you? 

GH: Through my website, www.georgiaharvey.net. 

VG: What exhibitions do you have coming up? 

GH: I have a solo exhibition Magic Moun tain 

at Constance ARI, Hobart, Tasman ia, 

5 December 2014 - 3 January 2015. 

THE IOURNAL OF AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS NOVEMBER 20>4 77

Tra de 

Thrown 

New products from JamFactory 

Ceramics Studio 

The JamFactory ceramics studio is active in many areas, making commissions for restaurants, running 

classes and workshops, offering studio access for tenants, and providing a unique approach to training 

through its two-year Associate program that bridges the gap between formal study and professional 

practice. 

Central to all these activities is JamFactory 

'Product', branded ware sold by the three 

JamFactory retail outlets as well as online and 

through stockists throughout the country. It 

generates income, provides 'real world' training 

opportunities for Associates and employment for 

those working in the ceramics sector. 


Trade 

Right and oppoSIte page: Thrown , 

201 4, Bennett's Magill clay body 

Photos: Tom Roschi 

Style shots of the new Thrown range 

Photos: Andrew Castellucci 

Designed and manufactured in-house, the Thrown range is, as its name suggests, mostly handthrown, 

w ith larger items being made using the Jam Factory jigger and jolly equipment. The small 

rectangular dish, used as an inset in a timber serving board, is ram-pressed on site. The clay is a special 

blend of South Australian clays manufactured to JamFad ory specifications by Bennett's Magill Pottery, 

with glazes in 'white' and 'sand' colours formulated and mixed by the JamFadory Ceramics Stud io. In 

addition to the normal volume of produdion, one thousand items based on the Thrown range were 

recently delivered to Fino restaurant at Seppeltsfield winery in the Barossa Valley. 

The Thrown range again demonstrates the viability of locally designed and manufadured ceramics 

meeting the needs of a market looking for objects of pradical beauty - ceramics that bear the marks of 

a maker's hand, yet, with the largest items retail ing at under $100, are not out of reach of the ordinary 

consumer. 

www.jamfactory.com.au

Potters Marks 

louise Boscacci 

Georgia Harvey 

Colin Hopkins 

lmda Seiffert 

Catherine Tate 

Dawn Oakford 

Mark Thompson 

Ilona Topolcsanyi 


Ceramic Shots 

WINNER 

Photographer and potter: Annemieke Mulders 

Esperance, WA, March 2014 

The challenge was to take a photo of one (or more) of your ceramic 

creations and play with the scale. Make it look BJG! Make it look small . 

Whatever your idea, there must be a ceramic link. 

The competition was judged by eight members of The Australian Ceramics Association committee. 


1 Photographer: Jane Howie 

Potter: Mandy Smith 

Windsor, Brisbane. OLD 

July 2014 

2 Photographer and potter: 

Sue McCormick 

Research, VIC 

July 2014 

3 Photographer: 

Peter Mahoney 

Potter: Katherine Mahoney 

5t Ives, N5W 

August 2014 

82 THE IOURNAL OF AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS NOVEM8ER 2014

Ceram ic Shots 

4 Photographer: Nicci Parry-Jones 

Armidale, NSW; July 2014 

5 Photographer: Edward Hsaio 

Potter: Imp Hung, Kentlng Taiwan 

August 2014 

6 Photographer and potter: 

Robyn Phelan, North Melbourne, VIC 

Seplember 2014 


Artist in Residence 

The Penland Experience 

Jackie Gasson reports on two magical weeks 

Inspirational, educational, exciting and magical! Two weeks, 1500 pots and complete and utter focus - 

sheer indulgence in ceramics. 

American ceramic artist Lana Wilson attended Spring Fever 2013 and planted the idea of me applying 

to the Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina to attend a two-week summer school with the tutor of 

my choice. Whilst there, I could also liaise with the administrative staff about the possibility of Suncoast 

Clayworkers establishing an annual fellowship with the school. 

I applied and was fortunate to receive the Horn Scholarship for the July Summer School and, with the 

assistance of the Sunshine Coast Regional Council and in particular Councillor Jenny McKay, my adventure 

became possible. The Summer Workshop Program is very detailed and covers many crafts. My choice was 

Painting with Fire with tutor Nick Schwarz. As the ceramic studios are open 24 hours a day it allows for a 

large body of work to be produced. Jetlag was no excuse! 

Even though the self-imposed workload was huge, the biggest distraction was this magical place itself 

- 400 acres of rolling hills, magnificent trees, incredible views and numerous buildings that were full of 

character and fitted snugly into the atmospheric landscape. The food was great with a good deal of the 

produce coming from Penland's own gardens. The accommodation was very clean and comfortable and 

everybody socialised well even though we were doing different courses. 

It was definitely potters heaven as there were many kilns to fire, including a 400 cubic foot woodfired 

kiln, and the studios themselves were well equipped. There were open verandahs on each building where 

a little socialising occurred at the end of each day. Every firing was like Christmas - anagama, wood, 

wood/salt, gas/salt, gas/soda, low salt and a reduction firing! The three-chamber kiln took three days to 

fire and three days to cool, needing a big team and plenty of gloves. During this time the other kilns were 

being loaded, fired and unloaded. 

Penland provided two small buses for the class to travel through the mountains to meet other potters, 

visit studios and galleries. During this time I was fortunate enough to meet Paulus Berensohn, the author of 

Finding One's Way With Clay. He is a delightful elderly man with fond memories of his time in Australia. 

After being involved in ceramics for nearly forty years I did not think it was possible to feel as excited 

and exhilarated as I did at the end of my course, and still do today. It has given me the motivation to share 

this information and experience, and to build another new kiln. 

Prior to leaving Penland I had a meeting with the director Jean McLaughlin who indicated their 

enthusiasm to build on the interaction between Suncoast Clayworkers and the Penland School. I was 

made to feel very welcome and totally at home with my peers. I would heartily recommend this amazing 

experience to anyone wishing to learn. Penland is the place to go! 

Jackie Gasson is President of Suncoast Clayworkers Association Inc. 


Artist in Residen ce 

1 Jackie Gasson helping to fire the three-chambered woodfire kIln at Penland; photo: Sarah Winfield 

2 One of the many historic bUildings at the school used for the various crafts; photo: Jackie Gassen 

3 NICK. Schwartz of Flynn Creek Pottery, California, sitting Inside one of the kiln chambers; photo: Jackie Gassen 

4 The results from the three-chambered woodfired kiln - over 1500 pieces produced by 15 people in 13 days 

Photo: Jackie Gassen 

5 The Upper Clay and lower Clay ceramics studios at Penland; photo: Jackie Gassen 


Community 

Through the Porthole 

Renton Bishopric coordinates a creative community project in Yeppoon 

Recently I took a coordinator role in Animating Spaces, 

Yeppoon, part of a statewide, multi-arts initiative aimed 

at revitalising and celebrating spaces within regional 

Queensland through locally driven arts activities and 

events. The Yeppoon project involved three artist 

coordinators who each worked w ith their own team 

in various mediums to create a weekend arts event. I 

named the project I was coordinating Through The 

Porthole and worked in collaboration with Indigenous 

painter Kim Warcon, graphic artist Clare Botfield, nine 

local photographers and 40 high school art students. 

Together we produced a series of 50 ceramic snapshots 

depicting a journey by boat along the picturesque 

Capricorn Coast. The finished pieces were framed as 

portholes and exhibited as an outdoor installation in the 

Town Centre. 

The project saw my own ideas and concepts transformed and brought together through the eyes 

of these artists and students. They each produced individual ceramic pieces that I fired and framed 

and then curated as a coherent body of work. The influence on my art practice from the team was 

invaluable; my viewpoint was stretched from the detailed beauty captured through photography to the 

whimsical stories in Kim's work and the graphic edits Clare put together. It was humbling to see just 

how far the techniques could be taken, with all of this being woven into one body of work. The final 

exhibition far exceeded my expectations. 

As with all community projects there were unexpected surprises. I found it especially rewarding 

to work with students who weren't familiar with the ceramic process as they were happy to explore 

what would best be described as 'unconventional techniques', yet still achieved amazing results . These 

techniques were duly noted and incorporated into my own practice. I think as ceramicists we have 

this intrigue around our practice that lends itself to collaborations, because people are so keen to try 

a medium that would otherwise be inaccessible due to all the equipment and technical knowledge 

required . It's a real opportunity. 

Through The Porthole highlighted to me the importance of collaborative projects that bring 

together artists from different backgrounds within a community. It's not just about sharing ideas and 

knowledge; it's generating exposure and appreciation for new areas of the community by tapping into 

each other's networks and forcing people to step out of their comfort zone. This is especially relevant 

where students are involved as they bring families and friends to events that they might not otherwise 

Above: Kim Warton and Renton Bishopric discuss the 

development of Kim's pieces for the projed; photo: Clare Botfield 


Community 

attend. As an artist I don't want to be 'one man on an island'; I really value having a like-minded peer 

support group with whom I can bounce ideas around, as well as build a strong local culture for the arts. 

Working on this project was a fulfilling and rewarding experience and I would encourage every artist 

to get involved in similar programs. The inspiration gained from sharing ideas and skills, finding ongoing 

networks to tap into, and support and encouragement, as well as building an enriching culture of 

cooperation rather than competition, are just some of the benefits gained from collaboration. 

Animating Spaces is a three-year project funded by the Australia Council for t he Arts, Arts 

Queensland, Regional Arts Australia and the five participating local councils each year, The 

projects are facilitated by Artslink Queensland. Detailed information can be found on the links 

below. 

www.rentonbishopric.com/through-the-porthole 

http://artslinkqld,com.au/regional-arts/ animatingspaces/yeppoon 

Animating Spaces Yeppoon was documented by a dedicated team who captured the process 

and event. Link to the short video: https:llvimeo.com/ 103498948a 

1 Kim Wareon at the opening with one of his Porthole works, Keppel Bay Dreaming, 2014 

2 Students working on their ceramic pieces for the exhibition during a workshop with Renton 

3 Renton Bishopric, Noisy Miner, 2014 

4 Through The Porthole art trail in Yeppoon's CSO with Renton Bishopric explaining the works to a school group 

Photos: Allan Reinikka Photography 


Association 

Australian Ceramics 

Open Studios 2014 

A report by Shannon Garson 

One of the most exciting events of the year for me was the Australian Ceramics Open Studios 

(ACOS) held in August 2014. This event is organised by The Australian Ceamics Association but run 

locally by the potters and artists who open their studios to the public. What an incredible display of 

community and creativity across Australia it was! All over the country, potters were featured in their 

local newspapers and magazines and they gave inteNiews on local radio stations. Fran Kelly on Radio 

National Breakfast also inteNiewed me about the event. 

This second year of ACOS saw increased participation, promotion opportunities and community 

involvement. I visited seven studios on my local Sunshine Coast pottery trail and was surprised and 

inspired by the diversity and strength of our community. This was a wonderful event for makers to sell 

1 Christine Mammana at Cooked Earth, Clifton Hill, VIC; photo: Vicki Grima 

2 Beatrice Prost at Tinbeerwah, QLD; photo: Shannon Garson 

3 Kerry Nicholas at Moorleigh Ceramic Co-op. Melbourne. VIC; photo: Vicki Grima 


Association 

1 Muddy Girl Studio, Mount Dandenong, VIC 

2 Claire Johnson at Muddy Girl Studio 


work and introduce the joys of ceramics to their local towns. The artists involved filled in a survey after 

the weekend and the results were very heartening. Most potters sold over $100 worth of work with 

32% selling more than $1000. The momentum of this event will ensure greater financial rewards in the 

future. Vicki Grima and Rachael Hegh put in a tireless effort to organise this event with credit going to 

Vicki for her determination and ability to track down the right people within Radio National in order to 

get us the spot on Fran Kelly's program. 

As a studio potter I can see that people love the connection and insight into a different life they can 

get from visiting an artist's studio. This creates an opening for handmade work to filter into the local 

community. There is a sense of pride and belonging engendered by using a local artist's work. This 

connection works both ways. Local artist s become an integral part of their community, both giving and 

receiving emotional sustenance by opening their studio doors to neighbours, friends and the public. 

Follow our blog, http://australianceramics.wordpress.com, for details on the 2015 ACOS event. 

Shannon Garson is President of The Australian Ceramics Association. 


1 Entrance to Jill Symes studio 

2 Adriana 's welcome sign 

3 Adriana Christianson's studio 

4 Adriana and Vicki 

5 Adriana's display in a suitcase 

6 Slow Clay owner, Jane SaWfer 

7 Slow Clay welcome sign 

8 Gary Healey, 8alwyn 

9 Gary Healey's studio in 8alwyn 


All studios are in Melbourne, VIC . 


.A~~ 

OPEN 

~ 

2014 

16&17 AUGUST 


Associat ion 

Examples of publicity 

and promotion material 

from Australian 

Ceramics Open 

Studios 2014 

MASTER 

~ . ''::C:T 

Sky high alert 

~u.w"f'Ul'Ol' '''''''''!h¥~

Gatherings 1 

The Rise and Rise of 

Queensland Indigenous 

Ceramics 

Katrina Chapman takes a look at recent developments after attending the 

Ca irns Indigenous Art Fair 2014 

Technical mastery, humour and sophisticated rendering of concept into clay has seen works by 

Queensland Indigenous artists take a major place on the stage of Australian ceramics practice in 

recent years. Both independent practitioners and artists working with art centres have worked hard 

to raise their profiles, creating bodies of work that challenge preconceptions about Indigenous 

creative endeavour. A growing appreciation for the novelty and clear articulation of cultural and social 

imperatives in their art has resulted in many pieces entering public collections, national awards and 

exhibitions, and attracting critical attention. 

Queensland has long held the honour of claiming the country's foremost Indigenous ceramicist in 

the person of Dr Gloria Thanakupi Fletcher from Napranum on Cape York Peninsula. In terms of living 

artists, this role is being amply filled by another independent female ceramicist, Janet Fieldhouse from 

the Torres Strait. Like Thanakupi, Fieldhouse has totally committed herself to the study and practice of 

her art, developing a highly distinctive style. Recently returning to her birthplace of Cairns after a period 

of study and research in Canberra, Fieldhouse's homecoming was heralded by Mark and Memory, 

an exhibition at the Cairns Regional Gallery. Described as 'the most impressive body of work'l in the 

2014 Cairns Indigenous Art Fair (CIAF). Fieldhouse has combined a number of styles to depict Torres 

Strait material culture and body markings. Baskets and women's dancing decoration are rendered in 

Below: Janet Fieldhouse, Mark and Memory 1. 2014, red raku with white charcoal, h.64cm, w.27cm, d.27cm 

Photo: Fany Saumure. Below right: Shenane Jago, Crocodile Skull #3, 2014, white earthenware with underglaze 

glazed terracotta, h.18cm, w.39cm; photo: courtesy artist, Bynoe Art Centre, QLD and Alcaston Gallery. Melbourne. VIC 

THE JOURNAL OF AUSTRALIAN CERAM1CS NOVEMBER 2014 93

Gatherings 1 

white porcelain, which becomes transparent when lit allowing the viewer to discover how the baskets 

are intricately woven. These sublimely delicate, fluid works have earned Fieldhouse a reputation as 'one 

of Australia's leading young ceramic artists'.2 Tattooing and body scarification are recreated in chunky 

earthenware to materialise 'unseen marking, so that the next generation will know that scarification was 

once a strong part of our heritage' . 3 

The Indigenous Ceramics Art Award (lCM), held biannually by the Shepparton Art Museum, has been 

integral to Fieldhouse raising her national profile. She was awarded first prize in 2007 at the inaugural 

ICM for her entry Woven Armbands. This set of traditional Torres Strait women's dancing decorations 

crafted from vitreous porcelain was praised by the award's judges as 'inspirational, accomplished and 

inventive'4 The 2009 ICM was won by Queensland artist Danie Mellor with Fieldhouse taking the 

honour again in 201 1. This year eight out of the 22 short-listed artists were from Queensland. 

Yarrabah artist Edna Ambryn was among the Queensland finalists in the 2014 ICM with a striking 


Gatheri ngs 1 


Freda Gilbert, Two Face Hunter - Large, 2014 

terr3cotta raku. underglaze and glazes, h.29cm 

w.22cm. d.21cm; photo: courtesy artist, Bynoe Art 

Centre, OLD and Aleaston Gallery, Melbourne 

Above: Edn. Ambryn, 8a/. Deejay, 2014 

ceramic, h.40cm, w.37cm, d.22cm 

Photo: cou rtesy Shepparton Art Museum 

Left: Eileen Tep. John Murray, Nephi Denham 

Charlotte Beeron. Augustina Denham 

Emily Murray, Sally Murray, 8agu, 2013 

Photo: Girringun Aboriginal Art Centre 

bust of a young man titled Bala Deejay. The boy's dark black skin and his brightly coloured tropical 

singlet immediately convey a sense of the heat and vibrancy of Far North Queensland. Yarrabah artists 

have been working with ceramics since the establishment of the art centre in 1972. Recent marketing 

and promotion has started to serve the artist's considerable talents with an increased presence at 

the 2014 CIAF during which their work was exhibited at their art fair stand and in the official CIAF 

exhibition Solid! Queensland Indigenous Contemporary Sculpture. A group of pots by Michelle 

Yeatman was a highlight of the exhibition. The exquisite handbuilt pots stand tall and impressive at 

28cm high. Yeatman's work was also selected for exhibition in the 2013 National Indigenous and Torres 

Strait Island Art Award. 

Ceramics have formed an exciting component of CIAF since it began in 2009. The Bagu and 

Jiman (fire spirit and firesticKs) created by artists from the Girringun Aboriginal Art Centre (GAAC) in 

Cardwell were the toast of the event. described as 'a new class of Indigenous object for the market' S 

Bagu continue to be keenly collected and have travelled to Brisbane for Across Country: 5 Years of 


Gatherings 1 

Michelle Yeatman, Kootchum (Oysters), 2014, white raku coil pots with oxide. h.28cm 

Photo: Vanessa Gillen; Solid! Queensland Indigenous Contemporary Sculpture, June-July 2014, QAGOMA 

Right: lawrence Omeenyo, erac Man Bowl 2, 2014, glazed raku; photo: Lockhart River Arts Indigenous Corporation 

Indigenous Australian Art at the Gallery of Modern Art. Fifteen life-size Bagu installed on the beach 

for the 2013 Townsville Strand Ephemera earned the group an Award for Artistic Excellence and images 

of Bagu grace two Tilt Trains which traverse the Queensland coast between Cairns and Brisbane. 

There was no shortage of ceramics at the 2014 CIAF and it was pleasing to note many artists with 

national profiles. The Lockhart River Art Centre exh ibited Croc Man vessels, clam bowls and animal 

figures by the late Lawrence Omeenyo whose work was selected for the prestigious Western Australian 

Indigenous Art Awards in 2013. Alcaston Gallery exhibited refreshingly energetic work from the Bynoe 

Art Centre in Normanton on the Gulf of Carpentaria. Freda Gilbert's Two Face Hunter vessels are 

compositionally strong and demonstrate an imaginative interpretation of customary lore. Gilbert's 

Sugarbag People, handbuilt in beautifully textured earthenware, are contemporary in design but 

eerily wise and ancient in demeanour. Palm Cockatoos with outstretched crest and crimson cheeks 

were executed in a touchingly simple, graphic style by Marie Burns to depict her personal totem. 

Representing the importance of the cattle industry to the Gulf, especially to the Kurt jar people who own 

and manage Delta Downs station, Shenane Jago has created a series of cattle skulls. The skulls attracted 

considerable attention with one being acquired for the National Gallery of Victoria collection during 

CIAF and another selected for the 2014 ICAA, This group had their first major exhibition at Alcaston 

Gallery in 2013 drawing an audience keen to view art from the remote Gulf region. Three works were 

purchased by the National Gallery of Victoria, the first contemporary ceramics by Kurt jar people to enter 

a national collection. 

All of these artists represent important aspects of contemporary life in remote, rural, urban and 

metropolitan areas of Queensland. The landscape of Australian ceramics is richer for their participation 

and their generous sharing of the many Indigenous traditions found in geographically and culturally 

diverse Queensland. 

1 Nicolas Rothwell, 'Preserving the old ways in a fresh young idiom', The Australian, 29 July 201-4, p.14. 

2 VoJWIN.calrnsregionalgallery.com.aulexhlbition20S.pdf 

3 W'AoW.cairnsregionalgallery.com.aulexhibition20S .pdf 

4 2007 Indigenous Ceramic Art Award (catalogue), Shepparton Art Gallery- , 2007 , p.6 

5 Nicolas Rothwell, 'Contemporary works alive with the rhythms of the past', The Australian, 23 August 2010, p.2l. 

·When the leM began in 2007 the Shepparton Art Museum was called the Shepparton Art Gallery. 


Gatherings 2 

Encore! 

Jane Annois prepares fo r the ret urn of the French potters 

Warrandyte is preparing for a French flurry in February 2015, continuing the French Australian ceramic 

exchange which has been underway since 2004. With each adventure the exchange has grown and 

developed to include new French and Australian artists. The inspirations stemming from these foreign 

encounters will become tangible in an exhibition at Manningham City Gallery MC2 in February 2015. 

These artists participated in the biannual potters market at Dieulefit back in May 2013, and now in 

2015 it's our turn to host the French, repay their hospitality, share our workshops and homes and enjoy 

a reunion of ceramic artists. A soiree will be held at MC2 on Thursday 19 February where they will ta lk 

about their work and show images of their home studios and environment. 

While in Australia, the French will also be running workshops for young ceramic artists at Art Play 

at Birrarung Marr, participating in Pottery Expo at Warrandyte and then heading north to Tanja on the 

south NSW coast for their exhibition at Narek Gallery. 

French potters exhibiting at Me2 and 

the Warrandyte Pottery Expo: 

Yves Gaget Padou De Seve Davy, Brigitte 

Long, Christian Fail/at Jean Marc Plan tier, 

Vincent Tournebize, Laurence Girard, 

Maryse Tavernier. 

Australian potters exhibiting: 

Jane Annois, Robert Barron, Bridget 

Bodenham, Angela Nagel, Ric and 

Judy Pierce, Mary Lou and Chris Pittard. 

Exhibit ion opening Wednesday 11 February 2015 at 6pm: Encore, MC2, Manningham City Council 

Doncaster; continues to 14 March; French Soiree at MC2, 19 February, 6--8pm 

14 and 15 February 2015: Workshops at ArtPlay, Birrarung Marr, Federation Square, Melbourne 

21 and 22 February 2015: Pottery Expo at Warrandyte, Melbourne, VIC 

27 February - 23 March : Exhibition at Narek Gallery, Tanja NSW 

For more details see www,potteryexpo.com or email Jane.jannois@bigpond.com 


Joanne Searle, Soundscapes, series detail, 2013. laminated porcelain, stains 

terra sigillata, glaze, various dimensions; photo: Art Atelier Photography 

... to welcome you to the Australian Ceramics Trienna le in July 2 0 15. 

Artists from the region will present master classes and feature as presenters and demonstrators at the 

event. These local artists. many of whom have international pradices and reputations. will be joined by 

a stellar cast of artists from other cities and regions in Australia and overseas . 

Keynote speakers of world standing have been invited and we are delighted to confirm Mike 

Goldmark from the UK has agreed to lead the third day of the conference by speaking to the theme 

Stepping up - to Making Money. Mike Goldmark is the principal of the eponymous Goldmark 

Gallery in Uppington. Rutland County. He has been described as a 'one man Arts Council' and certainly 

his selling style encompasses much education about his artists. Goldmark started off as a second-hand 

book dealer and now makes videos and publishes monographs featuring the artists he represents as 

the owner of one of the most successful galleries in the UK; www.goldmarkart.comlceramics.html. 

Proudly describing himself as a 'shopkeeper', he is egalitarian in his search for clientele. As open 

to bus tours as he is to the colledor whose 'chauffeur drops (you) off at the door', he feels that 


Australian Ceramics Triennale 2015 

visiting the gallery should be a welcoming experience and offer lots of variety so there is bound to be 

something for everyone. 

Mike Goldmark will talk about what he feels is involved in selling ceramics, opening up the discussion 

for other presenters who will talk about new ways of reaching niche markets around the world that are 

unable to visit galleries such as Goldmark. 

The Triennale is not only about talking, but will also have a rich and diverse program of masterclasses 

and demonstrations. 

Juz Kitson, 2013. porcelain and 

mixed media. various dimenSIons 

Photos: courtesy artist 

Juz Kitson. an Honours graduate of the National Art School in Sydney five years ago, has started 

on a career trajectory many others only dream of. Represented by Greenaway Gallery, she has been 

included in primavera 2013 at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney, as well as group 

exhibitions in Dubai, Beijing, Singapore and London, and her work is held in the collection of MONA, 

Tasmania. Her masterclass will draw on her experiences working between rural NSW and Jingdezhen 

in China and a continuing and forensic fascination for the world, as well as her modular approach to 

making large scale installation art works (www.greenaway.com.au/ArtistslJuz-Kitson .html). 

Fred Olsen, the American author of the seminal Th e Kiln Book, is not a newcomer to Australia, 

having been a presenter and kiln master at Janet Mansfield's Gulgong events as well as being 

responsible for the construction of the anagama style kiln at Strathnairn Arts in 1996 when it was 

decorated by artists from the Tiwi Islands. In a return event to be held before the Triennale. Olsen 

will refurbish that kiln and conduct a woodfiring masterclass which will see the faded kiln decoration 

renewed by the next generation of Aboriginal and Tiwi Island artists. This will be a once-in-a-decade 

opportunity to not only work with an acknowledged master, but to participate in restoring and firing 

what has become a part of ceramics history in the Canberra region. 

Janet OeBoos will lead a workshop based on wheel throwing in which the making of useful wares 

will be considered, along with how the act of making can lead to new ideas. Using a limited array of 


Australian Ceram ics Triennale 2015 

throwing and decorating techniques, participants will be taken on a journey of creative self discovery 

(http://issuu .comlncecaldocsf2012journaI/128). 

And that's not all ... 

A large number of demonstrators will be strutting their stuff throughout the event, with the Canberra 

region well represented by the following ceram icists: 

Bev Hogg, who is known for her larger scale handbuilt works that address environmental and 

socio-political issues (www.craftact.org.aulportfoliosfartist.php?id=286). 

Gail Nichols, who needs no introduction as an artist specialising in soda glaze 

(www.craftact.org.au/portfoliosfartist.php ?id=2 98). 

Joanne Searle, who is a maker of fine monoprint porcelain sli p works that take drawing in clay 

beyond the usual notions of slip decoration (www.joannesearle.com). 

Cathy Franzi, who works in a unique way utilising a linocut decorating style based on research into 

printmaking techniques and work made during the 1920s. Com ing from a science background, she 

uses her insight from this perspective to ponder how we might imagine an environment both present 

and fu ture (www.craftact.org.au/portfoliosfartist.php ?id=37 1). 

And this is just the start . 

Keep watChing the website for additions to the lineup as confirmations come in, and we look forward 

to seeing you in Canberra! 

www.australianceramicstriennale.com.au 

1 Cathy Franzi, 2014 

Photo: Art Ateher Photography 

2 Bev Ho99, 2014 


3 Gail Nichols, 2013 

PhOTO: courtesy artIst 

100 THE 10URNAl OF AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS NOVEMBER 2014

nnTNGUP CERAMIcs 

ST 

9-11 JULY 2015 CANBERRA, AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY 

u r 1 I TRIENNALE 

Announcing the Me 

for Australia's premier 

ceramics event: 

Janet DeBoos 

Janet has made, and is still making, 

a major impact on world contemporary 

ceramics. A member of the International 

Academy of Ceramics, Janet is an artist. 

advocate, widely published author, and 

renowned teacher. Formerly Head of the 

Ceramics Workshop, she is now Emeritus 

Fellow at the Australian National University. 

Janet DeBoos -Petl;'rsoma~ - Photo; At! Atelier 

Stepping Up will be held at the Canberra Theatre Centre Playhouse, which 

offers superb sight lines, while maintaining an intimate atmosphere. Additional 

demonstrations and events will be held at the Australian National University. 

Conference dates: Thursday 9 to Saturday 11 July 2015 

Master classes: Monday 6 to 8 July 2015 

Visit our Stepping Up website and subscribe to our mailing 

list for up-to-date Information and further details on 

conference themes, master classes and registration 

information. www.australianceramicstriennale.com 

Contact: Project Manager. Mel George 

Craft ACT: Craft and Design Centre 

projectlClcraftact.org.au Ph 02 62629333 

Stepping Up partners: Craft ACT: Crafl and Design Centre, 

The Australian National University, Canberra Potters' Society, 

Strathnairn Arts, Th e Australian Ceramics Association 

; REGISJRATION. 

• 

OPENS SOON PLEASE .... 

CIlECK OUR. WEBSITE OR 

FACEBOOK FAGE FOR DETAILS 

• 

• 

CONFERENCE ' MASTER-CLASSES ' EXHIBITIONS ' MARKET · TRADE FAIR · TOURS . SOCIAL EVENTS

Canberra Collaboration 

Chris Harford has been a successful studio potter for nearly thirty years. Since 1996 he has been the 

resident potter at the Canberra Potters' Society, as well as wearing the additional hats of workshop 

manager and sought-after teacher. Chris has always had a love for making beautiful tableware, skilfully 

marrying form and glaze to produce functional vessels that have won him acclaim and plenty of welldeserved 

awards. 

A recent project involved collaborative work with local restaurant Sage Dining Rooms who 

commissioned Chris to design a range of tableware. They were unsure of the possibilities but Chris 

worked with the Sage team to come up with designs that look good on the table and work well for 

the wait staff. Each design element was carefully considered in regard to its functionality in the kitchen, 

including strength and practicalities to withstand constant use by both clientele and kitchen staff. Over 

a five-month period up to forty prototypes were made as the shapes, sizes and glazes were sorted out. 

Chris has just recently completed a run of 300 main plates and is now producing smaller runs of three 

different types of dishes. The next part of the commission is to make shorter runs of specialty dishes 

and plates. 

Chris has also recently held a successful exhibition, Studio to Table in collaboration with fellow potter 

Rick Beviss at Watson Arts Centre in Canberra. 

A report by Sue Hewat 

www.sagerestaurant.net.au 

Chris Harford. Plate. diam.2Scm, h.4.5cm; photo: artist 

Johnon MacDonald, Southern blue fin tuna 

organic Japanese soy, wasabi panacotta and fned shallot 

Photo: Katherine Strand 


The Fortynine Studio and 

their new Mountain range 

Collaboration forms the foundation of The Fortynine Studio, a 

multidisciplinary design studio based in Sydney. Its five members 

- Lauren Austin, Ben Elbourne, Carly Vickers, Sarah Spackman 

and Harriet Watts - met while studying at University of NSW 

College of Fine Arts. 

They formed The Fortynine Studio in 201 1 to produce 

ceramic tableware, lighting, textiles and paper works, and have 

maintained the same lineup since. 

"We all love and respect each other's work," says Harriet. 

"Because we studied together, we have a similar approach to 

design . We're vaguely going in the same diredion, which helps 

keep us together. " 

The group's latest ceramic offering, the Mountain range, 

is a variation on the group's Flip Flop Slip series. Harriet used 

her textile background to develop mountain imagery through 

experimentation and play, applying cobalt directly to the clay 

surface. 

Fortynine Studio, Oval Platter 

MountaIn range, white raku slip 

pigment, clear glaze h.31cm 

Photo: Fortynille StudIO 

Each member has a different background, allowing individual skill sets to strengthen the overall 

collaborative effort. "I have a ceramics minor, whereas Ben teaches ceramics at COFA so he acts as our 

technical advisor," says Harriet. "Sarah's background is in production, which helps us run our studio 

efficiently. " 

If there are drawbacks to collaboration, Harriet accepts them as integral to the process. "In a way 

the strengths are the weaknesses. As an individual, it's easier to keep your ideas on track; in a group 

sometimes there's a lot of information to process." But those limitations are outweighed by the benefits. 

"It's a hothouse of original ideas. You can throw ideas around and get a reaction straight away and 

therefore reform the possibilities." 

The group is cu rrently collaborating with creatives outside the group, which will no doubt add another 

layer to their work. "I t's a pretty exciting time for us right now, " says Harriet. 

A report by Candice Anderson 

www.thefortynine.com.au 


Ceramic Arts Queensland 

Ceramic Arts Queensland (CAQ, formerly Fusions) has 

undergone a facelift with rebranding, along with a new 

website and workshop program. The change was inspired 

by a wish to represent our members in a manner that 

is current in the context of ceramic art practice in the 

Queensland and Northern NSW region. We aim to facilitate 

connection within the ceramic arts community and to 

improve the availability of education in ceramic skills. 

Mltsuo Shoji at the Toolkit Workshop 

in August 2014 

We have observed that there are many active groups 

of potters operating independently throughout our 

region, and we offer a platform for those groups to share 

information on events and happenings to the wider ceramic 

community. The CAQ website offers a directory for users 

to locate and contact other regional groups and suppliers 

to the region, and for groups to advertise events and 

functions. We welcome contributions from all groups and 

businesses connected to our industry. 

In response to the continuing trend of closures of ceramic arts education facilities CAQ has 

developed the Toolkit Workshop Series, offering a monthly opportunity to learn, share, meet artists and 

expand your skills repertoire in an affordable and friendly environment. Requests can also be made for 

future workshops to be included in our program. 

Our organisation has changed shape many times across its 45-year history but the central objective 

remains the same - to support and promote ceramic arts in the community. Please join us in this 

pursuit. 

A report by Emma MacGregor 

President of Ceramic Arts Queensland 

www.ceramicartsqld.org.au 

Ceramic 

Arts 

Queensland 


, 

• 

I • 

soft penCiLs, 2013. handbuilt, stoneware, acrylic paint 

life size; photo: James Tylor 

First World Problems? Here's a BADAID, 2013 


Sophia Nuske 

Fresh out of Honours from the South Australian School of Art in 2013, Sophia Nuske is an emerging 

artist with a wry sense of humour. Thoughtful and whimsical in equal measure, her carefully conceived 

work uses slippage and tension as instruments of meaning. Much of Nuske's ceramics practice has 

involved replicating everyday objeC1s, ohen in painstakingly hand-wrought detail, creating a sense of 

value in forgotten or overlooked small objects of the everyday. With a confidence that belies her age, 

Nuske rearranges meanings and interpretations, encouraging the literal and figurative to blur and 

mingle. 

Alongside linguistic devices that have been recrea ted and transformed through their physical 

manifestation, Nuske's work has a surrealist feel as she recreates mundane objects just real enough 

to blend in and just strange enough to provoke an internal double-take. 8y intentionally creating 

misunderstandings, Nuske highlights the strange quirks of language and semiotics that are so often 

taken for granted, lost without translation. 

Nuske's series entitled soft penCiLs (which formed part of her Honours work) is a reinterpretation of 

the grades of pencils from soft to hard, gradually moving from stra ight replicas of lead pencils to the 

very bendy 68 pencil. Outside of the appeal of the everyday made impossible is the urge to get in on 

the joke, something that requires observation, a little snippet of time to grasp and enjoy. Outside of all 

the wry smiles, these objeC1s are reminders of how we take our environment and the way we interpret it 

for granted, forgetting to notice that we did not notice. 

A report by Sophia Phillips 

www.soph ianuske.com; http://instagram,com/sophnuske 


lOS

Tasmanian Fairytale 

Studio practice can be a very solitary occupation. However, collaboration became a living presence in 

my work and life when (quite serendipitously) I bumped into Nanna Bayer at a pub during the Gulgong 

conference, Clay Energy, in 2010. We fell in love and the rest. as they say, is history. 

Nanna relocated from Finland to Tasmania in 2011 and almost immediately we embarked upon joint 

projects, the most crucial remains the building of our 'dream studio'. Unfortunately, dream studios are 

notorious for getting out of hand: our project is overly ambitious, both in scale and creative intention, 

but no effort is spared in incorporating as many luscious ceramic elements as possible into the building. 

Further opportunity to work as a team has been provided by Hobart's Museum of Old and New Art 

(MONA) involving several large commissions from architectural works to simple bowls and cups. In 

addition, we were very pleased to produce part of the dinner service (see Fertility Bowls below) for the 

wedding of (MONA founder) David Walsh and Kirsha Kaechele. It is a privilege to work for MONA, and 

the 'creative chaos' its projects generate, sweep up everybody involved and results in works we are all 

proud of. 

Beyond such tangible instances, our life together can very usefully be described as a collaboration. 

Most of our days are spent in each other's close company, and inevitably even the tiniest pot I make in 

the studio has a little bit of Nanna in it - and I presume the same is true the other way around. 

A story of collaboration by Zsolt Faludi 

www.nannabayer.com 

Nanna Bayer, Fertlity Bowls 

Nanna Bayer, Fertlity Bowls in action 


A New Collective: Domestic Frontier 

Domestic Frontier is a collective of Melbourne-based craftspeople with a passionate charter to showcase 

contemporary wares of the highest quality for use in the home. 

Their first public appearance was perfectly timed, as it was part of CRAFT's annual Craft Cubed 

Festival. Based on the group's vast selling experience, it was decided the event would be shorter than a 

Pop Up but longer than a market. The two weeks (20- 31 August 2014) allowed a concise time frame 

for energy and eXCitement to build around the event, while being long enough to allow for word of 

mouth to kick in and for return visits to occur. 

Pottery, furniture, basket weaving and textiles were artfully installed into a classic Victorian shop 

located at the 'frontier edge' of inner-city suburbs where local residents have an appreciation for 

alternative and Skillfully made objects. A clever early decision was the collaborative mix of differing 

complementary craft mediums. The resulting display was to be a retail experience with a strongly 

domestic and intimate ambiance. 

Planning meetings began early this year and it was quickly decided to establish a working relationship 

that was more than just the one-off event. Another wise decision was to use social media to promote 

the event as many of the makers already had a significant Instagram presence. The combined clout of 

eight avid Instagramers resulted in a huge opening night. A pleasing outcome was the bumper sales in 

the second week due to instagram posts bounced around the internet: evidence of the true power of 

'word of mouth' (plus fabulous images!). 

A report by Robyn Phelan 

On Instagram: @domesticfrontier, @vic_pemberton, @sophiejanemoran, @sandrabowkett, 

@adrianachristianson, @joruchel, @greghatton, @bridgetbodenham, @Georgia Clark 

www.housemadestudio.com 

left to right: Domestic 

frontier dISplay, the 

opening crowd and 

three of the eight Of 

participants; Sandra 

Bowkett. Sophie 

Moran and Adriana 

ChrIstIanson 


A Different Rug 

I can't be accused of taking myself too seriously when my latest project resides in a public toilet. 

winced when approached by textile artist Angela Ferolla about printed clay floor tiles, considering the 

learning curve for her and the tight deadline she proposed. Angela had put in a bid to revamp the loos 

in Fremantle Markets. Having successfully screenprinted an enormous 'rug' on the floor of funky local 

eatery Bread In Common, she wanted to put her stamp on the Market 'Ladies'. 

We discussed making custom-made, printed tiles, set into a standard tiled floor to imitate an old rug . 

Once I had met Steve Hill, a skillful, enterprising tiler and a key player in the team, the idea grew on me. 

Durability and slippage hazards shaped our materials selection and clay; colours and testing were 

sorted. Using my vintage slab-roller, I rolled slabs from Keane's White Raku. To attain a textile-like finish, 

slabs were rolled under lengths of denim and then the tiles were individually cut with plenty of extras. 

They were then dried for two weeks between sheets of plasterboard to wick out moisture and prevent 

warping. 

Angela derived a motif from the turreted pediment over the 1897 Markets entrance. I made Riso 

screens using this along w ith her image of an old rug fringe. 

I skipped the bisque. At Angela's studio we laid all tiles on her massive table to print using liquid red 

underglaze for the motif background, which bled into the textile impression. We embraced such gl itches 

as the history of the rug. Using a black ceramic ink I'd blended, we screenprinted the pediment diredly 

onto the tiles. The fringe tiles were simpler. We fired once to stoneware without glaze, then Steve 

worked his magic and installed them. We were pragmatic and eHicient and made a really good team . 

Woot Woot! 

A report by Elaine Bradley 

Elaine Bradley and Angela Ferolla, Ceramic Rug, 20 14, w.80cm, d.22Ocm 

Photos: Amanda Miller 


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110 THE JOU RNAL OF AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS NOVEMBER 2014

On the Shelf 

More books and DVDs are available on www.australianceramics.com 

The Course of Objects - the fine lines of inquiry 

A DVD about TACA's 2014 biennial exhibition by filmmaker Carolyn 

Constantine Includes interviews with curator, Susan Ostling and artists, 

Simone Fraser and Toni Warburton in their studios The exhibition was 

held at Manly Art Gallery & Museum from 2 May to 8 June 2014. 

Duration: 16:30 mins 

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2015 Focus 

& Deadline Oates 

Vol 54 No 1 

Publication: 1 April 2015 

Focus: The Function of Art, 

The Art of Function 

Guest Edrtor. Euan Craig 

Deadline for copy 

2 February 2015 

Vol 54 No 2 

Publication: 8 July 2015 

Fo

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u8 THE JOURNAL OF AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS NOVEMBER 2014

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THE 10URNAl OF AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS NOVEMBER 2014 119

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THE IOU RNAL OF AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS NOVEMBER 2014 121

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122 THE JOURNAL OF AUSTRALIAN CERAM ICS NOVEMBER 2014

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CALL FOR PROPOSALS 

Belonging: embodied commentaries inspired by place 

This exhibition oets out to increooe The Australian Ceramics Association's ITACA) regional outreoch and strengthen 

porticipotian of artists by providing notional and international exposure. It also aims to harness clay as a repository 

of personal stories, as a medium to exchange ideas and explore complex interrelationships between the cultures of 

this country. Importantly, this exhibition aspires to showcaoe the creotivity and diversity of contemporary Australian 

ceramic practice. 

Fraught with contradictions and complexilies, the politics of idenlity in Australia is on histarical one. Asia in 

porticular - geographically neor but in other ways very distant - has been a key relational feoture of Australian 

identity and, alongside the not yet reconciled Indigenous and seHler-Austraiian reality, continues to be of relevance 

within these highly globolising times. 

TACA invites your submission far on exhibition to be held during the Australian Ceramics Triennale 2015 in 

Canberra . It encourages you to shore your stories, affirm your identities and explore diversity by articulating your 

understanding and interpretation of what it meons to be Australian. 

This exhibition encourages you to draw inspiration and meaning from your surroundings, engage with notions of 

'belonging' and explore changing aHitudes to our ever-evolving community. Warks can be sculptural, functional or 

conceptual. 

Throwers, hand-builders and thaoe experimenting with new technologies are encouraged to participote, however 

cloy must be the primory medium of expression. The size of each submission must not exceed 15cm in height, 

width or depth. Works need to be free standing with a stable bose as they will be exhibited on wal~mounted 

floating shelves. 

You are invited to complete on Expression of Interest (EOI) Form and submit it to The Australian 

Ceramics Association no later than 15 December 2014_ 

For more information and on EOI form go to www.australianceramics.com and follow the links 

to the TACA Members' Exhibition 2015_ 

Curator: Modhulika Ghosh 

Expression of Interest deadline: 

15 December 201 4 

Applicants notified: 15 January 2015 

Work due: 27 April 2015 

Exhibition dates: 27 June - 11 July 2015 ITBC) 

Exhibition location: ANU School of Art 

Foyer Gallery, Canberra AG 

The Australian Ceramics Association 

PO Box 274 Waverley NSW 2024 

T: 1300 720124 

E: mail@austrolianceromics,com 

www.australianceramics.com

ShOjJ Leith keane onlil /() " 

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The Journal of Australian Ceramics Vol 53 No 3 November 2014

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