The Journal of Australian Ceramics Vol 54 No 1 April 2015

The Function of Art. The Art of Function
Warrick Palmateer, West Cape
Passage, installation view, 2014
h.170cm, w .800cm. d.1SOcm
Background: Pippin Drysdale, Solstice
2014; photo: Robert Frilh, Acorn Photo
Here&NowI4, July- September 2014
lawrence W ilson Art Gallery, WA
as well as providing the refractory properties necessary to withstand the kiln firing. The commercial
paperclay enabled the textural surfaces to bond to the clay body. I created each piece by hand using a
coil and throw technique and then applied a heavy, thick slip with sweeping hand gestures to create
texture and a fluid movement on the surface of the form. After a biscuit firing the vessels were glazed
with a mixture of barium, lithium, copper and iron to create a vivid turquoise colour that contrasted
with the granite colour produced by the silicon carbide and the ochre tones provided courtesy of the
local clay. The silicon carbide also created bubbling and unusual textures in the glaze surface giving the
finished form the appearance of having been weathered by the elements. The vessels were all gas fired
in a heavy reduction atmosphere to around 1250° C.
My creative journey was a roller coaster ride of highs and lows. It was heartbreaking when vessels
collapsed in the kiln or glazes failed to create the effect I wanted, but that was soon forgotten in the
exhilaration I experienced when a vessel emerged from the kiln intact and resplendent in the colours and
textures of the West Cape region . The sheer size of each vessel tested my physical strength and without
the use of the equipment at the Central Institute of Technology in Perth, where I was the Artist in
Residence, it would have been almost impossible for me to manoeuvre the vessels in and out of the kiln.
I was also physically and emotionally taxed by a quest for perfection that drove me to create 'just one
more vessel' in the belief that it would turn out to be superior to its counterparts. My last, and possibly
best, piece came out of the kiln the day before the exhibition opened, and the vessel was st ill warm to
the touch when I transported it to the gallery.
I chose five pieces for the West Cape Passage series and they were set out on a long, gracefully
curved plinth that swept through the centre of a large room in the gallery. I had achieved my goal of
creating forms and textures inspired by the West Cape coastline and the opening of the HERE&NOWI4
exhibition completed an incredible creative journey best summed up by Bernard Leach.
It seems reasonable to expect thai beauty will emerge from a fusion of the individual characler and cullure of Jhe
pOller with (he nalltre a/his materials. Bernard Leach, A Poller's Book
Opposite page:
1,4& 5: Warrick Palmateer, West Cape Passage, detail, 2014; Here&NowI4, July-September 2014
Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, WA; photos; courtesy The West Australian
2 Warrick Palmateer throwing, 2014, Central Institute of Technology, Perth
3 Heavy reduction firing, 1250·C, 2014, Central Institute of Technology, Perth
Photos 2 & 3: lynn Vroombout
THE JOURNAL OF AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS APRil 2015 29