Pottery In Australia Vol 35 No 1 Autumn 1996

M
y functional work in
clay arises from a
struggle between my
inner need to make personal
objects which convey
meaningful visual and
emotional messages, my
financial reality and the
demands of the marketplace.
Responding to the needs of
the marketplace means staying
alive financially whilst still
working at an occupation I enjoy. An exploration of the
medium directed at functional ends often leads to discoveries
which can be useful when indulging in making work of a more
esoteric, personal or metaphoric nature.
There is also more to 'responding to the marketplace'
than a knee jerk reaction to current fashion trends,
responding to the here and now can be very challenging.
'Tapping into the Zeitgeist' might be a more interesting
way of looking at it.
In the 60s and 70s making functional pottery by hand
using real clay and simple methods seemed to signify a
return to more basic fundamental and spiritual values. The
European tradition of functional ceramics at that time was
seen as cold and spiritless. Its function was perceived as
displaying the wealth and social aspirations of the owner.
Bernard Leach and his followers brought, via Japan, a
new order where the more ordinary aspects of life, eating
and drinking, could be elevated to a meaningful ritualistic
experience. This idea, albeit in a much diluted form still
resonates today. Both the maker and the user of hand
made objects have incorporated it into their lives.
In the early eighties Japanese aesthetics and Buddhist
ideals were swept away for a while with the excitement of
the Italian and Spanish New Wave design groups (Britain
also had a New Wave at this time, but the English are
always more idiosyncratic). The Italian design group
'Memphis' headed by Ettore Sostas with the ceramic
designer Matteu Thun had a large influence on my work at
the time. I responded to the aesthetic as my tastes at the
time were with the German Bauhaus movement and the
Vienna Succession, and both these groups also directly
influenced the Italian Memphis designers.
Australia in the eighties was ready for them, anything
bright, colourful and angular was in vogue, it might not
express deep spiritual values but it was in Zeitgeist.
This era might have had more in common with older
traditional European values where beautiful decorative
objects displayed the wealth of the owner. The early eighties
was certainly a materialist era, but its influence on design is
still felt. From each era with its rush of creative energy,
when new forms are found a few classics will always
emerge. In my own repetoire I still make a few shapes from
,
the same moulds made in
1980.
My functional work in the
eighties tended to be hard
edged and angular. I wanted
the pieces to work as pure
'form', to have a satisfying
resolved aspect, but also be
a little disquieting, to have
something unexpected or
bizarre about them. This I
tried to achieve through the
disparity between form and decoration, and the
incompatability of the slip-cast form to its hand made
additions and finishing.
In the nineties diversity and multi-culturalism are the
fashionable concepts. The hybrid is the most popular
creature. These ideas allow for a freedom of expression
which is liberating and challenging.
I have always drawn on my past and inner life in my
work as most people do, now this aspect is more
celebrated, work can be more fun. This does not mean
increased sales, however, everyone knows the
'marketplace' for handmade objects is following the
inflation rate and remaining boringly steady.
The Bunyip series of teapots which began in 1993 and
updates often (the range of creatures can stretch as far as
the imagination) incorporates a nod to an English past via
the Toby jug tradition, and illustrates the aboriginal myth of
the swamp creature.
I can also return often to the country where I grew up,
Zimbabwe, this place and its people have undoubtedly
had the biggest influence on my work, the interplay
between content and form in African Art has always held a
fascination. The Shona people from Zimbabwe are
especially interesting, because they have no tradition of
sculpture, but have created a uniquely recognisable art
fonn from their own vision and their contact with western
art of this century.
I'm interested in the way culture always informs both
content and form in art practice. Pottery being
predominantly about form can rest on that alone, but it
makes life interesting to extend beyond that sometimes.
The 'Sap Chalice' series are about a fantasy dream world
in which the substance contained in the chalice would be,
when imbibed with the appropriate rituals, able to render
the recipient with the power to communicate with plant
life. Each chalice has a particular character and is able to
transmit a special plant language.
I find the language of clay both a challenge and a joy to
work with.
Jenny Orchard,
329 Catherine Street, Leichardt, (02) 560 5706
16 POTTERY IN AUSTRALIA + ISSUE 35/ I AUTUMN 1996