Pottery In Australia Vol 38 No 3 September 1999

particularly in relation to colour combinations, it also
added the levity, the little bit of theatricality which I had
been looking for (see picture below).
At the time I also began to investigate the works of the
contemporary designers from the Alessi group and
Phillipe Starck. I was impressed by their indifferent
attitudes to questions of 'high' or 'low 'art' and their
concerns rather with communicating with an audience
within familiar idioms. I was particularly impressed with
Starck's designs, his ability to make a building or a
toothbrush equally interesting objects, and I could see
that same concern for elemental spatial relationships that
Brancusi and Arp understood. I returned frequently to his
Asahi building, with its tilted 'flame ' sculpture poised
weightlessly on its black roof, and attempted to
infuse some of this dramatic element into
my later jars (see pictures on pages 5
and 6).
In settling on two core shapes,
I attempted to fulfil my core aim
of producing an interrelated
body of work, regardless of the
function ·of individual elements.
This concept, from British Keith
Murray at Wedgwood in the thirties, to
American Russell Wright in the forties
and fifties , used the notion of
'matching' to entice consumers to buy
further items. I have adopted Murray's
simple device of lines and proportions,
and Wright's use of internal and external
colour to 'mix and match' items. Colour and
glaze development have been a critical
element of exploration in the project.
The Masters of Fine Art by research project was a
challenging and rewarding focus leading to a new body
of work. It proved interesting seeing my traditional
chuns, copper reds on new forms.
The project led me to invent new ways of construction,
often cutting and reassembling, or using multiple pieces.
I wanted to avoid an overly forced or contrived look and
for the functional forms to have an unassuming
simplicity, yet hopefully a sense of engagement. The
success or failure of my aim to assimilate traditional
reduction glazes with a more overt Western based form
rests with the final pieces. oo
Copper green
glaze with black
and yellow lid.
W16 X 25h.
8 POTTERY IN AUSTRALIA + 38/3 SEPTEMBER 1999