Pottery In Australia Vol 38 No 3 September 1999

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a y a! , S. d g e al m PROFILE 38/3 SEPTEMBER 1999 + POTTERY IN AUSTRALIA 9
fE si vc OJ tc ai sl eJ I A s Helen Stephens handles her latest work, pared down, utilitarian shapes, predominantly white with the merest touches of orange where the glaze breaks, she talks of their simplicity, "This is what I find myself striving for most of the time - this simplicity and purity. I love throwing and I like to throw loosely. You can only do that with simple uncomplicated shapes ... I am in anguish when I find myself fussing over a pot." But this talk of simplicity is deceptive. Behind Helen's work is an intellectual enquiry which finds satisfaction in the constant interaction of her many activities, from writing, lecturing, curating, to a position on the Board of the Centre for Contemporary Craft and always the thread of her own work providing a practical avenue for intellectual experimentation. Born in Sydney's southern suburbs and coming of age there, it was no straight Top right: Helen with forward progression to 'Freddie'. ceramics. Inspired by her mother's skills in dressmaking, Below: 'Basics' . Helen's first inclination was to Oxidation Shino dish study fashion design at East (centre) 5.5 x 24cm. Sydney Tech, but family pressure forced her to take up Previous: Large oval a job in a bank. It took 30 serving dish '99. years for her to finally enter Oxidation Shino. the Tech's sandstone h12 x L32cm. enclosure. After banking, she took a journalist position at Opposite: Two 'Pillow' Australian Associated Press dishes '99. Stamped (AAP) and for the next ten stoneware. Largest dish years writing engaged her, d20cm with stints at the finance desk of AAP, at ABC Radio news and with her partner, Eric at his magazine, Retail World. In the mid-1970s after returning to school to finish her HSC she studied political science at the University of SW. Through all these career changes, an underlying interest in the arts had never completely left her, and in the mid-1980s Helen began preliminary studies for a BA in Fine Arts at Sydney University which included practical experience in ceramics at the Tin Sheds. This was a very political, feminist, funky period in ceramics and an honours thesis on Australian ceramics exposed her to artists such as Lorraine Jenyns and Margaret Dodd. This exposure only served to clarify that sculptural work was not her interest. When looking around in 1990 for a school to further her ceramics study she rejected the Sydney College of the Arts for the more artisan-oriented East Sydney Technical College. By her third year Helen, curiously, had come back to her first interest, making tall, hand-built vessels from rolled out clay: pieces of clay were torn off and wrapped back together with uneven edges. These containers were construcred not unlike some of today's fashions. ti C 0 t38/3 SEPTEMBER I 999
Page 1 and 2: classic form & surface
Page 3 and 4: DATE DUE ~-~ THIS ITEM MUST BE RETU
Page 5 and 6: The 9th National Ceramic Conference
Page 7 and 8: Left: Greg Crowe. Long wood fired v
Page 9 and 10: Lidded jars, green and red with gun
Page 11: particularly in relation to colour
Page 15 and 16: It's not on any map, true places ne
Page 17 and 18: 'a. sl li, h 0 (' p p V, p ir lE tc
Page 19 and 20: Slumped at the Wheel After a decade
Page 21 and 22: ecause of the variety of hole sizes
Page 23 and 24: J Alistair Whyte Aspiring to make p
Page 25 and 26: inner shape of the pot. Work is usu
Page 27 and 28: • 1 d s a Kissed by Fire Crystall
Page 29 and 30: co co on hu Vil pa he to< COi is; f
Page 31 and 32: NE Pt stay in place on vertical sur
Page 33 and 34: uni ad< no we 1I I The opening spee
Page 35 and 36: Vert de Bien Hoa A classic Vietname
Page 37 and 38: RE 32 Pr Ri! Ai:: 0~ Ar Vic REVIEW
Page 39 and 40: Al H 'L in p, e, cl Above: Gill Tre
Page 41 and 42: Lorne Woodfire I am sitting in that
Page 43 and 44: I have sprouted from the outer laye
Page 45 and 46: Above: Pat Davidson Left: Glenys Ma
Page 47 and 48: There are not many places in the wo
Page 49 and 50: po Wf. COi wit in of l Da l gla bul
Page 51 and 52: The Rites· of Tea Kim Pen Pang - a
Page 53 and 54: River Reflections A river can hide
Page 55 and 56: The Potters of the Punjab The regio
Page 57 and 58: V; g st i5 cl fi tl e: u tc 0 b a:
Page 59 and 60: - this life ... a glaze journey Res
Page 61 and 62: Glaze Q&A When it comes to ordering
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to cut even slabs (about 5mm thick)
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to the surface colours achieved in
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thr Stu tirr pa1 s an invited deleg
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enable firing. This was a magical m
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Th sp, de to dif rel: lug CL Ar ins
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HANDS ON NEW ENGOBE RANGE FROM -CER
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Q &A ] GOT A QUESTION FOR OUR TEAM
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New Releases J_ l Simply Pottery A
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AUSTRALIA l years. Dean was a stalw
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AUSTRALIA WIDE to her next report a
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NEWS works; CV; 50 word proposal ci
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NEWS the ancient Imperial Capital,
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POTTERY IN AUSTRALIA - ORDER NOW Pu
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• NSW Southern Cross Pottery Walk
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Featuring the work of more than 130
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RGW HOLDINGS PTYLTD - - ) - . FOR S
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HOT & STICKY l:f~ Steve Harrison -
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It's On Again! The Hot To Pot Summe
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97
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Be creative in a different way with
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Study from your studio Graduate Dip
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membership applications CNR ST JOHN
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Pottery In Australia Vol 38 No 3 September 1999

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