Transformation: Craft ACT annual members exhibition

Transformation
Craft ACT: Craft + Design Centre annual members exhibition

Transformation
Craft ACT: Craft + Design Centre annual members exhibition
Craft ACT: Craft + Design Centre is supported by the
ACT Government, the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy –
an initiative of the Australian State and Territory
Governments, and the Australia Council for the Arts – the
Australian Government’s arts funding and advisory body.
Craft ACT: Craft + Design Centre
Tues–Fri 10am–5pm
Saturdays 12–4pm
Level 1, North Building, 180 London Circuit,
Canberra ACT Australia
+61 2 6262 9333
www.craftact.org.au
Cover image: Tamara Schneider, Gang Gang ottoman.
2021. Photo: Courtesy of the artist.
Craft ACT: Craft + Design Centre
29 October - 14 December 2021
3

Transformation
Exhibition statement
Our 2021 members exhibition,
Transformation, will showcase
contemporary expressions of craft and
design uniting time-honoured techniques
with modern interpretations, in line with
our golden anniversary celebrations.
Curated by Craft ACT, this is showcase
exhibition demonstrating the trends in
contemporary craft and design in Australia
by accredited practitioners from the ACT
and surrounding region.
The theme arose from our planning for
Craft ACT’s 50th – golden – anniversary
which takes place in 2021. We explored
the values, tradition and symbolism of
gold and, through that, alchemy and
transformation. We remain constantly
inspired by the ways that artists and
designers transform raw materials and
ideas into objects, spaces and buildings
to creatively express layers of meaning,
history and connection from the domestic
to the public sphere. Since 1971 CraftACT
has played a vital role in sustaining
Australia’s high-quality studio practice
and supporting craftspeople, designers
and audiences. We are proudly one of
Australia’s longest continuous-running
membership organisations in the visual
arts and we celebrate the many ways our
close-knit community has nurtured and
transformed artists’ practice for half a
century.
Image: René Linnsen, Arch bookends, 2021.
Photo: Lean Timms
5

Questions of intimacy
Exhibition essay
The driving forces of this Members’
Exhibition are encapsulated in the
themes of Care and Transformation.
The need, the passion for both have
been exacerbated by our struggles,
isolation and yearnings over the past
year’s lockouts and lockdowns, placing
an intensive focus on what breaks and
what sustains us. It also highlights
a notion of the gift—what we give as
artists to community, to each other,
and in reciprocation with our materials.
From the rolls and frays of clays, glass,
stitches, threads and leaves to the ways
personal, professional and familial
obligations have rubbed at each other,
emerges an exhibition of extraordinary
works, highlighting the skills and
perceptions of some of Canberra’s finest
artists.
Our impulse to make is the impulse to
communicate, to share our recognitions.
We touch, taste, smell, sense, see and
hear some of the intense and intensive
beauties and beats of the universe. To
be partnered, to pair, to interthread, and
re-cognise--we are human in the world
because of these sensitivities. Whether
we come to the current exhibition via the
digital realm, or in-person, the objects
are indeed a triumph of care, hope,
contact, and practice continuity.
Woodworkers invite us to sit in the
comfort of their stools and chairs, or
fashion tables to hold our precious
things; weavers and potters demonstrate
their concerns for nature, birds, our
gardens and the clouds. Some artists
upcycle old materials, reducing waste;
others layer precious-metal seams
between sediments of earth or soil,
asking, which matters more?
Hannah Gason traces plays-of-light
across a tessellated surface, daring
our eyes to value what we catch. Do
we possess our captures, or do they
possess us? These are deeply ethical
questions. Does it matter that we ask?
Michelle Grimston links slowtime
processes in her weavings of
rock formations via textiles; Fran
Romano unwraps clay fortress walls
in a Colosseum-like sculpture that
challenges our sense of the heroic, the
museum. Jenni Martiniello interweaves
grass and reeds into hot blown glass,
thereby merging animate with inanimate,
as well as ancient and modern cultural
traditions. Lea Durie’s vessels offer to
6 7

slake thirsts made ashen by the Black
glass, both transparent and shielded,
Summer fires.
revealing and coding its life in gaseous
rhythmic pulses that symbolise hope in
Our bodies, states Kirstie Rea, are
partnership but never quite overcome
‘stained with place’; and we are indeed
the differences we feel against and
stained by place, and within and across
amongst each other. In Catherine
time. Diane Firth’s long, spiny leaf
Newton’s work, the hollow of a doll’s
reminds me of a human spinal cord.
hand cast within glass--as if frozen
I am, and am not, more than human.
within a block of ice--reaches out, held
Several artists create jewellery that
in a moment in time where we remain
becomes altered by our own bodily oils.
separate, unsure, but yearning for
How fragile, resilient and connected we
connection.
all are.
I am grounded, humbled, surprised,
Tables offer us places to gather, to store,
and grateful to the artists in this
to preserve, but David Liu’s piece leaves
exhibition, who each give testament to
me uncertain, with its distinction of
the vibrancy of human spirit, perception,
left and right halves into higher, lower,
and capability. Our crafts survive and
black or white, questioning—or rather,
are necessary. They hold, provoke,
examining—our need for stability. As Liu
remember, reach out.
writes,
These room notes are written in gratitude
In the global pandemic context,
to the 70 artists in this exhibition.
the division of the world became
unprecedented among different
races, countries, ideologies,
Dr Zsuzsi Soboslay, October 2021
even people vaccinated and
people against it. This work is to
communicate the conflicts and
http://www.bodyecology.com.au/
division of the people, groups and
http://www.bodyecology.com.au/art-doula/
society and raise the awareness
https://www.thestreet.org.au/artists/re-storying/
of the hardship to survive the
resilience and recovery project for artists
divided world.
@creativerestore
At a time when artists have had to be
fierce about the value of our work,
Ruth Hingston glazes hers with gold
leaf; Harriet Schwarzrock exposes
the fragile heart itself as a piece of
Page 6: Harriet Schwarzrock, Neon glass heart.
Photo: Georgia Arndell
Page 9: Bethany Lick, Isolated. Photo: Lean
Timms
8 9

Ruth Allen
Accreited Professional Member / Glass
Biography
Ruth allen is a melbourne based multimedia
artist primarily working with
glass, light, kinetics and the poetics
of experience. Ruth’s professional
practice spans a broad repertoire of
creative projects including large scaled
installations, domestic and commercial
lighting, bespoke commissions, jewellery,
domestic-ware and hot formed sculptures.
Ruth has built a well-equipped studio
now available for hire and periodically
facilitates public workshops.
Artist Statement
The Effervescence Necklace was born
from an intimate relationship with material,
process, aesthetic and the conceptual
departure from earlier jewellery works.
I am interested in minimising, streamlining
and simplifying.
The bubble textured tube encompasses
breathe, inside/outside space and can be
worn nestled within the natural curves of
the body.
A play with shape, scale, length of
suspension delivers a broad scope for
individual taste, body shape and personal
attraction to detail.
When experiencing these works on the
body the wearer will note that the captured
bubbles will absorb light and colour. This
quality allows the work to respond to
daily changes of worn textiles such as
the colour of dress, shirt or blouse for
instance.
Image: Ruth Allen, Effervescent necklace #2,
2021, blown glass tube with black velvet sash.
Photo: Courtesy of the artist.
11

Rolf Barfoed
Associate Member / Wood
Biography
Rolf Barfoed is a furniture designer and
maker based in Canberra.
Rolf was trained under leading craft
practitioners in both Australia and
England. At the heart of his furniture
is functional design and a passion for
craftsmanship that can be seen and felt in
each piece he makes.
As well as making his own furniture, Rolf
manufactures for other designers; putting
several designs into production alongside
bespoke pieces and prototyping.
Artist Statement
Louvre bedside cabinets represent the
‘bread & butter’ skilled cabinetmaking
practiced daily by Barfoed. Crisp mitred
joints and chamfer profiles show careful
planning, precision machining and clean
glue-up operations. Finger jointed drawers
run on Blum Movento runners, which allow
quick and easy soft-close operation.
This style of work is intended to be
heirloom quality: durable, serviceable, and
easy to live with. Something that is used
multiple times a day while on the go.
Rolf is excited about the growing interest
surrounding locally designed and
made things and the opportunities for
collaboration across disciplines. It’s a
great time to be part of the Australian
furniture industry.
Image: Rolf Barfoed, Louvre bedside tables, 2021,
wood, Tasmanian Oak. Photo: Lightblub Studio.
13

Sally Blake
Accredited Professional Member / Textiles
Biography
Sally Blake is a Canberra-based visual
artist working across textiles, drawing
and sculpture. Through her practice
she visualises the complex patterning
and connections between the human
and natural worlds. Sally is particularly
interested in cycles of death, renewal and
regeneration as well as finding the points
where transformations may take place.
Her previous careers as a paediatric nurse
and midwife deepened her understanding
of birth and death cycles.
In Sally’s contemporary drawings
and textiles, cyclic patterning and the
interconnected whole are explored, as well
as the consequences of their undoing.
She feels deeply about disconnections
in human understanding of the natural
world which result in environmental
crises. And in turn Sally contemplates the
effect of the climate crisis upon humans,
examining art’s purposeful role in bringing
attention to, and examining significant
environmental and social issues. In her
recent solo exhibition, The Ancient Gaze at
Belcoarts the ancient wisdom embodied
in European Palaeolithic figurines
was brought into conversation with
contemporary environmental concerns.
Image: Sally Blake, Masked owl, 2021. Photo:
Courtesy of the artist.
14 15

Julie Bradley
Accredited Professional Member / Mixed media
Biography
Julie Bradley is a professional artist
working at the Australian National Capital
Artists (ANCA) studios in Canberra. Her
mixed media works on paper explore ideas
of connectedness and express emotional
states of being. In these works she is not
only exploring the formal arrangement of
shapes and playing with compositional
elements but is also communicating the
emotion derived from direct experiences
of being in places and landscapes that
move her in some way. Every place walked
by the artist engenders an emotional
response. This is translated into colour,
shape and line, and the artworks tell the
story of that place through the use of
vibrant colour, organic and geometric
shapes and composition.
Image: Julie Bradley, My treasury in the sunset,
2021, mixed media, gouache and collage. Photo:
Andrew Sikorski - Art Atelier.
Artist Statement
The symbol of the cloud ,especially
the thunderhead, has associations of
imagined other worlds. In this work,
the cloud acts as a metaphor not only
for change in the world but also in our
personal lives. Because of the fleeting
nature of clouds many romantic poets
and writers, have used this metaphor in
their work to represent changing feelings,
states of being, fortunes or physical
nature.
My treasury in the sunset - is one of the
artworks from a series that deals with
change where I have used the symbol
of a cloud –a cumulonimbus cloud –to
represent transformation. Abstracted
forms imply cloud shapes and elements
of the weather –wind, rain and storms and
embody ideas of resilience and resistance.
The “skyscape” is abstracted and reduced
to a composition of directional lines and
contrasting organic and geometric shapes
applied to a gouache wash background.
The simplified image echoes basic
structures in the cloud and the use of
the compositional element of the arc or
semicircle, directs the eye and helps to
build the forms of the thunderhead or
cumulonimbus cloud.
17

Ximena Briceno
Accredited Professional Member / Metals
Biography
Briceno’s core career interests lie in the
history and practices of art, fine arts and
crafts, jewellery and precious metal work
developed in different cultures. She grew
up in Lima, Peru, where she had first
contact with native artisans and their
different crafts. Whilst working full time
in the manufacturing jewellery sector,
she studied at Santa Fe Community
College and then continued her studies
at the University of Florida . She arrived
in Australia in 2004, and in 2011 she
completed her PhD in Visual Arts in the
Gold and Silversmithing workshop at
the School of Art, Australian National
University.
Artist Statement
This necklace is part of a larger body of
work entitled Bush Enlightenment Baroque
which are my impressions on Australian
flora and fauna through the eyes of a
migrant from Latin America.
This necklace contains silver cast
specimens of native Australian flora
similar to those collected Joseph Banks
during Captain James Cook’s voyage in
the 18th century and thus their connection
to the age of Enlightenment.
Native Flora necklace was made for
Society North America Goldsmiths
(SNAG), 50 year anniversary Goldsmith
‘20. This work is inspired by a necklace
made by the late Alma Eikerman for
the exhibition Goldsmith ’70 held at the
Minnesota Museum of Art in 1970.
Image: Ximena Briceno, Native Flora necklace,
pendant and brooch, 2020, laser welded titanium
filigree and silver cast leaves specimans. Photo:
Courtesy of the artist.
19

Estelle Briedis
Associate Member / Mixed media
Biography
Estelle Briedis is an Australian based
surface designer and screen printer.
Known for highly decorative pattern
designs that are applied to a range of
design objects, fashion accessories and
artworks.
Artist Statement
Triangular Side Table, 2021, continues
Briedis’ investigation of surface
ornamentation and the interaction with
everyday objects.
Estelle specialises in creating original
surface designs, exploring ideas of
architectural geometry, the mathematical
process of tessellation and the aesthetics
of symmetry. The patterns formed from
her process are then reinterpreted to form
a highly decorative finish.
Each artwork, design object and product
is hand screen printed in her studio in
Queanbeyan NSW. All products are made
using sustainable and environmentally
friendly processes and inks.
Image: Estelle Briedis, Triangular side table, 2021,
screen print on marine plywood, clear sealant,
metal. Photo: Craft ACT
21

Margaret Brown
Accredited Professional Member / Ceramics
Biography
A Raku demonstration by Dorothy
Hope in 1978 was the initial inspiration
behind the decades of creations in clay
by Margaret Brown. Following her early
experimentations with the clay medium,
Brown decided to attend a formal studio
ceramics course in Kempsey, NSW.
Brown completed a Diploma in Visual
Arts (Ceramics) at the Australian National
University School of Art and received a
Technical award upon completion of the
course.
Artist Statement
“I hear them before they fly past my
window on their way to the apple gums
outside my studio. Then enjoy their
acrobatic displays especially in the spring
as many young birds are out enjoying
their new wings. Time out to enjoy this
distraction is something I look forward to.”
Brown attributes her talents and
techniques to a multitude of talented
artistic tutors who have shared their
knowledge and skills freely at workshops
which she has willingly attended.
Since Brown’s graduation, her work
has been in continual demand within
the Bega valley, where she now lives,
and surrounding townships. She has
developed a professional relationship with
selected galleries and commercial outlets
within the local region that exhibit and sell
her perfected creations.
Image: Margaret Brown, Peace beakers, 2021,
ceramic. Photo: Craft ACT
22 23

Lisa Cahill
Accredited Professional Member / Glass
Biography
Lisa Cahill is known internationally for
her kiln formed glass sculptures and
installations including numerous public
art commissions. After graduating from
Monash University, Victoria in 2000 she
has been an independent studio artist
for over 20 years having established
glass studios in Melbourne, Sydney and
now Canberra. Cahill has been awarded
numerous grants, international residencies
and has been a regular finalist in the
Ranamok, Tom Malone and Hindmarsh
Glass Prizes. Exhibiting widely nationally
and internationally, her work can be found
in Public Collections in Australia, the USA,
Denmark and the recently opened Sir
John Monash Centre, Australian National
Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, France.
Artist Statement
Carving around the vessel is more
challenging technically and physically as
well as conceptually. In previous works
I carved landscapes and seascapes
onto flat panels and there was always a
beginning and an end. On these new forms
the image is continuous and wraps around
the form mimicking clouds on the horizon
out to sea. This form allows for more
transparency than previous wall works and
by carving through the layers of opaque
glass I am able to manipulate and control
the light revealing an intensity of colour
that evokes notions of an ephemeral
landscape and creates a place for quiet
contemplation.
Image: Lisa Cahill, Becloud #12, 2021, blown and
carved glass. Photo: Courtesy of the artist.
25

Robyn Campbell
Associate Member / Ceramics + Glass
Biography
Robyn Campbell works in both glass
and ceramics. She studied Glass at
the Canberra School of Art, Australian
National University, under the tuition of
Klaus Moje, Stephen Proctor and Elizabeth
McClure.
After graduating in 1993, Robyn
established a studio in Canberra and
exhibited widely, both nationally and
internationally. She was commissioned to
create public artworks, taught part-time
at the Australian National University and
contributed to the arts community in a
variety of roles.
Artist Statement
In a very literal sense ‘Shift’, through
colour and light, embodies transformation.
Transformation through the capture
and reflection of light, and through the
gradation in hue from deep to pale amber.
‘Shift’ began with an early morning forest
walk - leaf litter under foot, shifting light
and shade through the canopy, and amber
sap against dark trunks. Inspired by the
beauty of the light, I took these elements
from that forest experience to create this
piece.
A three month fellowship at the Creative
Glass Centre of America in 1995 gave
Robyn the opportunity to focus on casting
sculptures on a larger scale direct from
a glass furnace. This time was formative
and underpinned the development of her
work over the following years.
From 2013 Robyn has returned to making,
developing and refining her skills in
ceramics. Glass and clay are the central
materials in all her work.
Image: Robyn Campbell, Shift, 2020, fused,
slumped and diamond cut glass. Photo:
Courtesy of the artist.
27

Marilou Chagnaud
Accredited Professional Member / Design + Paper
Biography
Situated within traditions of minimalism
and geometric abstraction, Marilou
Chagnaud works across printmaking,
sculpture, and site-responsive
installations. She combines minimal
expression and delicate materials such
as paper and textile to create works that
invite reflection on our perception of
dimensionality, repetition, and movement.
Her recent work pushes the boundaries
of paper to explore its sculptural potential
through folding, stacking, and hanging.
Chagnaud studied at the Ecole Supérieure
d’Art d’Aix-en-Provence (Master of Art
2003-2008) followed by a diploma in
Textile Design and printmaking in Montréal
(2015). In 2016, she established her studio
in Canberra, Australia. She has shown
her work in solo and group exhibitions
including Canberra Museum and Gallery
(2018), Craft ACT: Craft and Design Centre
(2018), SOAD Gallery (2017), Centre des
Textiles Contemporain de Montréal (2016).
Artist Statement
Reflection explores notions recurrent in
my practice: movement, dimensionality,
and perception. The work is a diptych
made from large sheets of Japanese
paper, digitally printed and folded by hand.
As the viewers move along the work,
the folds reveal a changing pattern that
alternates sequences of positive and
negative space.
Working across printmaking, sculpture,
and site-responsive installations, I am
interested in how patterns and repetition
can create dynamic experiences that
impact our sense of space. My recent
work pushes the boundaries of paper to
explore its sculptural potential through
folding, stacking, and hanging.
Image: Marilou Chagnaud, Reflection, 2020,
folded paper, digital printing, rock maple frame.
Photo: 5 Foot Photography
29

Elizabeth Curry
Associate Member / Metals
Biography
Elizabeth Curry is a Queanbeyan-based
designer-artist working primarily with
metal. Elizabeth completed a Bachelor
of Arts and a Bachelor of Visual Arts
(Honours) at the Australian National
University, receiving two scholarships,
including the Robert Foster Gold and
Silversmithing Honours Scholarship, and
four Emerging Artist Support Scheme
Awards in her honours year. Elizabeth’s
interests are broad however her more
recent work maintains a strong emphasis
on pattern and line. Having recently
embarked on her professional career,
Elizabeth has a lot of ideas and projects in
the pipeline and is looking forward to what
is still to come.
Artist Statement
A life-long fascination with patterns
and the contentment they are able to
elicit, lead Elizabeth to create her own
intricate, hand-drawn, mandala-style
designs. Through the process of drawing,
an unconscious divulgence of a visual
archive is released and truly unique and
intuitive, yet somehow familiar, designs
are produced. It is these designs that
were then employed as the vehicle for
generating the works displayed.
The Untitled Shoulder Brooch is an
amalgamation of five different mandala
designs, brought together and layered to
form something that is both beautiful and
fierce. Inspired by the form of the body, the
piece moulds to the wearer like armour,
transforming the delicate two-dimensional
designs into one three-dimensional piece.
Image: Elizabeth Curry, Untitled Shoulder
Brooch, 2021, copper and stainless steel. Photo:
Courtesy of the artist.
31

Rozlyn De Bussey
Accredited Professional Member / Glass
Biography
As a recognised independent Australian
glass artist and educator, Rozlyn has
exhibited her work globally since 1984
including in the USA, Europe, UK and
New Zealand. Her work is represented
in collections throughout Australia
and overseas. She has studied both
academically at Nepean CAE, now known
as Western Sydney University, Sydney
College of the Arts, the ANU and privately
under renowned artists, the late Cherry
Phillips and the late Anne Dybka this was
a total of 16 years of academic and private
training.
Rozlyn’s standing as a contemporary
practitioner is evidenced in her work being
showcased as an independent artist in
the prestigious Ranamok Glass Prize and
the Bombay Sapphire Design Prize and
was the only Australian selected for this
international award where she came equal
second in the world. Her works feature
the elaborate use of vitreous enamels and
lusters, a technique that takes years of
practice and patience.
As an educator Rozlyn has many years
of experience. She has been trained by
master craftspeople including the late Ann
Dybka; recipient of the Australia Council
Emeritus Award and Order of Australia, she
was the first glass artist to receive these
awards and was nominated by Rozlyn; as
an apprentice in Architectural Glass with
the late Cherry Phillips and Sydney Stained
Glass; and through her studies at the ANU
School of Art under Klaus Moje. Rozlyn
has always reciprocated her learned
experiences, giving back to the community
through teaching and lecturing on a variety
of subjects.
Image: Rozlyn De Bussey, Celebration Stemware
Flutes, 2021. Photo: Craft ACT
32 33

Lea Durie
Associate Member / Ceramics
Biography
Lea Durie is a ceramic artist based in
Braidwood and Canberra. Lea is currently
undertaking a Bachelor of Visual Arts with
a ceramics major at the ANU School of
Art and Design. Lea’s work explores land
use and form through mapping, and how
women occupy space. Lea also makes
functional contemporary ceramic objects.
Lea’s work reflects her background as a
landscape architect and her love of mud,
the land and place. Lea works from a
studio space at the Watson Arts Centre.
Artist Statement
Thirst is a response to the drought and
bushfires that surrounded the Braidwood
area in the summer of 2019-20. It explores
the loss of native bushland, water sources,
crops and other introduced landscapes
and the impact this had the fauna of the
region. Boundaries and fencelines defined
new habitat and access to water and food
for animals that survived the devastating
impacts of climate change seen that
summer.
Image: Lea Durie, Thirst, 2021, ceramic slip and
glaze. Photo: Courtesy of the artist.
35

Rose-Mary Faulkner
Associate Member / Glass
Biography
Rose-Mary Faulkner is an emerging glass
artist based in Canberra, ACT which is
Ngunnawal, Ngunawal and Ngambri
land. She graduated from the Australian
National University School of Art & Design,
Glass Workshop, in 2015 with a Bachelor
of Visual Arts and then completed
honours in 2016. Since then, Rose-Mary
has been working extensively to expand
and develop her artistic practice. She is
a studio tenant at Canberra Glassworks
where she primarily makes her work. Her
work has been exhibited nationally and
internationally (Australia, Berlin, America,
Japan) and has been acquired as part of
the national glass collection at the Wagga
Wagga Art Gallery. Her work recently
toured the United States as a finalist in the
2018 Bullseye Emerge exhibition.
Artist Statement
The body is simultaneously familiar and
foreign to us. It is with us always, yet
we only ever have a restricted personal
viewpoint of ourselves. My current work
presents a study of my own body from
this unique and subjective line of sight,
aiming to map and record the female
figure through abstracted and layered
photographic imagery in order to analyse
form and surface. I investigate ways
to observe and experience the body,
expressed visually through soft dappled
imagery and subtle colour, evocative of
feeling and sensation.
My practice primarily explores decal
imagery on glass. I firstly photograph
sections of the body and abstract these
images through digital manipulation.
Transferring them to glass, I layer several
related images before further manipulating
the surface and form through multiple
fusings or cold working. This expands the
imagery beyond the original photograph
as the transparency of glass enhances
layering for the purpose of depth and
overlapping, which enables me to utilize
the specific materiality of glass to suggest
bodily form. Through this work I am also
able to consider the role of the gaze and
express a female perspective on the
female form.
Image: Rose-Mary Faulkner, Neon Study 2,
2021, kiln formed glass and neon. Photo: David
Paterson
36 37

Dianne Firth
Accredited Professional Member / Textiles
Biography
Although educated as a landscape
architect Dianne had early training with
textiles at Newcastle Technical College
and Glasgow Art School and was involved
with textiles for fashion, theatre costume
and interiors. She discovered quilting after
seeing a collection of Amish quilts at the
National Gallery of Victoria in the early
1980s and undertaking a masterclass with
American art quilter Nancy Crow.
Artist Statement
The environment affects how plants grow.
Imagine plants growing without gravity?
Her works have been selected for
major juried international and national
exhibitions, publications and for public and
private collections. Since 2001 she has
been one of six artists in the Canberrabased
tACTile group with the objective of
expanding the boundaries of the art quilt
and mounting exhibitions to travel.
Firth is Adjunct Associate Professor in
the Faculty of Arts and Design at the
University of Canberra. She holds a
Bachelor of Landscape Architecture, a
PhD, is a Fellow of the Australian Institute
of Landscape Architects, and advises
the ACT Government on issues related
to landscape heritage, trees and urban
design.
Image: Dianne Firth, Botanicus, 2019, layered
fabric, machine stitched, viscose felt, polyester
net, polyester thread. Photo: Andrew Sikorski -
Art Atelier.
39

Cathy Franzi
Accredited Professional Member / Textiles
Biography
Cathy Franzi is a full-time studio artist
and was awarded a Doctorate of Visual
Arts (Ceramics) from the Australian
National University School of Art in
2015. Through her ceramic practice she
explores ways to represent Australian
flora and the environments they inhabit.
Her work is underpinned by an interest
in the historic interplay between culture
and study of nature. This led to the
research of ceramics, prints and botanical
illustrations in museums and galleries
around the world. She is fascinated in the
cultural values attributed to plant species,
their interconnection within ecosystems
and how botanical and environmental
knowledge might be expressed.
Artist Statement
Ceramic is the ultimate transformative
medium and one I explore to express
scientific and environmental knowledge
through the representation of Australian
flora. I have chosen Golden Wattle as
a subject to acknowledge the 50th
anniversary of Craft ACT.
Image: Cathy Franzi, Gold Dust Wattle, 2021,
porcelain. Photo: Andrew Sikorski - Art Atelier.
41

Hannah Gason
Associate Member / Glass
Biography
Hannah Gason is a Canberra-based visual
artist, who graduated from the Australian
National University (ANU) School of Art in
2015 with a Bachelor of Visual Arts (Glass)
with First Class Honours and a University
Medal.
Her work has been exhibited widely, and is
housed in the Australian Parliament House
Art Collection, the Australian National Art
Glass Collection, the ANU Art Collection,
and private collections.
Artist Statement
My works capture, modulate and grade the
available light through the arrangement
of layered glass fragments. Wall-mounted
assemblages layer translucent colour
and opaque white glass, reorganising the
light they absorb. The use of fragments
combined with shifting colours suggest
the subtle changes we experience through
daily life. Brushed is made up of small
tiles arranged to form the large plane. The
abstract patterns play with repetition and
disruption through the placement of tiles
in shifting tones of white and yellow. The
varying intensity, brightness and opacity
of the whites over the more muted tones
of yellow, result in an illusion of depth
and movement. The still, hard object is a
dynamic plane, the smaller components
seeming to slide back and forth over each
other in a constant shuffle.
Image: Hannah Gason, Brushed, 2020, kiln
formed glass. Photo: Greg Piper.
43

Kirandeep Grewal
Associate Member / Textiles
Biography
Kirandeep is a visual and textile artist
with extensive international experience in
several parts of the world, currently based
in Canberra. She creates wearable art in
silk that is free-flowing, colourful and light.
The colours and designs she uses are
inspired by the Australian flora and fauna
and her travels around the world.
The silk painting is all freehand. The silk
is also dyed by combining various dyeing
techniques (Shibori, indigo dyeing from
Africa and Indian dyeing techniques). Kiran
uses ecologically friendly techniques to
minimise wastage of water and dyes.
Some of the silk designs incorporate
needlework and freehand machine
embroidery to make thread a part of the
design. Various printing techniques are
also introduced for wall hangings.
Artist Statement
Bringing up our young boys with Attentive
Listening skills for their younger siblings
and friends will ingrain the element of
respect into their personalities and inner
self.
Soar imagery is my direct response to
#march4justice. The repetition of the fly
stitch symbolises the fact that we must
constantly remind our young boys of what
is respect and how to be respectful in our
society.
The fragile linen is backed by the ecodyed
muslin), the unused fabric scraps of
which are used for giving that element of
3-D effect on the little girl’s skirt. This is to
highlight that receiving Respect is equally
important as giving respect. It is not a
one-way street.
MUTUAL RESPECT = GIVING +
RECEIVING
Image: Kirandeep Grewal, Soar, 2021, linen, ecodyed
muslin, emroidery floss. Photo: Devinder
Gewal
45

Michele Grimston
Associate Member / Textiles
Biography
Michele Grimston works predominantly
with textile-based practices, including
embroidery, tapestry and sewing, but often
incorporate other media. Her works are by
their nature small, painstaking and slow.
She is interested in exploring the value of
labour in her work, and ways that investing
our time, attention and care in things can
create objects of great meaning and value.
Recent works have taken this interest in
the value of labour a step further, inviting
audiences to immerse themselves in the
making process in order to experience
the time taken to create a work for
themselves.
Artist Statement
2020 has disrupted our routines in many
ways and by extension our sense of
embodied time. Time is longer than it
feels asks whether perhaps this shift in
our understanding of time holds some
wisdom for us in the way we relate to the
world. The forms in this work are based
on rocks found on Canberra’s Black
Mountain. Most of what we see on this
mountain is sandstone, but the underlying
rock is the oldest in the Canberra region
and is around 500 million years old.
Time is longer than it feels uses the
repetitive and laborious medium of woven
tapestry, which mirrors the gradual
accumulation of sedimentary rock to
explore the vastness of geological time
in our own backyard. Perhaps by looking
towards the patience and inevitability of
these geological phenomena which create
our world we will open up possibilities
for new rhythms by which to live our lives
to emerge that let us all breathe a little
deeper in a post COVID world and take
stock of these extraordinary changes.
Image: Michele Grimston, Time is longer than it
feels installation, 2020, woven tapestry. Photo:
Courtesy of the artist.
47

Kirstin Guenther
Associate Member / Ceramics
Artist Statement
“Imagine a box of light,” Albert Einstein
told Niels Bohr in 1930, continuing their
argument of 20-odd years. If we let a
single photon — a particle of light —
escape from that boxand we clock when
it left, then we’ll know the time it was
emitted...
Imagine a tube of light, a tunnel we travel
through, imagine transparency and
density, waves and particles, spirals and
catenary curves...all of these beautiful
immutable designs inherent in nature’s
design...all around us, constantly changing
and re-creating. I am constantly fascinated
by how things change around us. How
we perceive those changes...or perhaps
it’s our perception over and of time, that
changes most of all.
Image: Kirstin Guenther, Imagine a Cylinder of
light II, 2021. Photo: Courtesy of the artist.
49

Jochen Heinzmann
Associate Member / Wood
Biography
Growing up in a family with a second
generation joinery business, Jochen
was always surrounded by the creative
possibilities of crafting items from timber.
“I always loved working with timber, even
from a young age”, says Jochen. So in
2013 he quit his engineering job and
started tinkermade with the garage as the
workshop.
The aim of tinkermade is to fuse traditional
woodwork craftsmanship and modern
design and manufacturing techniques to
create unique items which complement
modern living spaces.
Artist Statement
The Papillon Lounge has been created
in response to a client brief for a set
of lounges for a modernist house in
Canberra, and it has been created in close
collaboration with the client of the project,
Randev Mendis. The brief was for modern
leather lounge with echoes of some of
the great modern furniture designs of the
previous century.
articulation, as alluded by the naming.
The shell-and-cushion structure of the
seat and backrest is reminiscent of the
Eames lounge chair, transformed into a
less technical form by reducing the shell
shapes to their essential functional form
and replacing structural metal parts with
timber ribs. The cushions are significantly
firmed up, providing a more plump and
wrinkle free surface, albeit with the salient
two large buttons per cushion. The seat
features an uncharacteristically strong
gradient for a lounge, inviting the sitter
into a deep and relaxing seating positing.
The looped armrests and open frame in
solid timber, in a midcentury Scandinavian
style, are again a less technical alternative
to a metal base, make this design
approachable both visuallyand tactile.
In the context of the commission work the
Papillon lounge has been made in a two
seater and a three seater configuration,
with the two seater configuration selected
for the exhibition. A single seater lounge
chair version is a possible later addition to
this series.
The vision for the lounge was for an
open frame and segmented seat and
back lending the design lightness and
Image: Jochen Heinzmann & Randev Mendis,
Papillon lounge. Photo: Courtesy of the artist
51

Gerhard Herbst
Associate Member / Metals
Biography
Gerhard Herbst creates pieces that
examine the jewellery medium as both
object and image.
Beginning his jewellery interests at age
fifteen, Gerhard continued on to study
sculpture and jewellery design at San
Diego State University. He subsequently
developed a vibrant studio practice, and
his work became popularly known for its
spatial forms and fluid manipulations of
metal.
Gerhard has exhibited and sold his work
extensively throughout Australia and North
America. His jewellery has featured at the
American Craft Museum, The Gallery of
Modern Art (GOMA) and in museum shops
at the Smithsonian Institute and the Los
Angeles Museum of Art.
Artist Statement
I take interest in the histories that are
recorded or embedded in objects.
Histories leave their marks. Whether
through manufacturing or through the
course of time, markings become a record
of both process and experience. Markings
can be evident on the surface, or are
more subtlety embedded within an object.
Forging is a technique which records its
process both on the surface, and internally
in the form of structural changes that
occur in the material.
In forging, you create your shapes
through hammering. Non-Ferrous metals
such as copper, silver and gold are all
considered to be relatively soft. Uniquely,
forging transforms these materials on
an atomic scale, pushing atoms and
their crystalline structures into novel and
irregular arrangements. This shift creates
new electromagnetic tensions between
the atoms, storing energy and bringing
spring-like hardness to the otherwise soft
metals. These changes are permanent and
will remain indefinitely, however, should
the work be heated to high temperatures,
the atomic crystalline structure will reorganise
and the stored energy will be
released. The metal then changes back to
its natural softer form. When cooled, the
external form remains the same, however,
these transformations will be permanently
erased.
Image: Gerhard Herbst, Mind Scape, 2019,
jewellery, collar and bangle, copper oxidized, 18ct
on copper. Photo: Courtesy of the artist.
53

Sue Hewat
Associate Member / Ceramics
Biography + Artist Statement
I am a ceramic artist living and working
in Canberra. My work continues to be
an interpretation of the layers, lines and
threads that are seen in the sea or land
scape. Lines in the Sand draws on of
the layered lines, colours and patterns
created by the ebb and flow of the tide.
These elements combine to represent the
essence of the beach.
Working with clay epitomises
transformation followed by alchemy. A
large lump of sandy coloured malleable
clay is transformed on the potter’s wheel
to become a strong vertical object; a
perfect ground for displaying ideas. After
creatively executing these ideas using
nerikomi inlay, the work is fired in the kiln
multiple times. Stoneware clay, coloured
porcelain and glaze are all fused together
by the immense heat from the kiln. This
act of alchemy solidifies my impression of
a slice of the beach; Lines in the Sand.
Having worked with clay for many years,
in 2015 I attained a Bachelor of Visual
Arts with Honours (Ceramics) from the
Australian National University, School of
Art and Design. I was awarded a three
month residency at Strathnairn Arts and
three Emerging Artist Support Scheme
exhibitions which were successfully
undertaken during 2016.
I have exhibited in several group
exhibitions. 2015 highlights included
Delineations, at Form Gallery, Queanbeyan;
BeLonging (work selected by The
Australian Ceramics Association as part
of the Australian Ceramics Triennale) and
Protean, at the Nishi Gallery in Canberra.
In 2017 selected exhibitions included City
of Design: Craft ACT Annual Members
Exhibition and Shine Dome Re-imagined
as part of Craft ACT Design Festival. In
2018 I exhibited at MU Gallery, Sydney.
This exhibition, Mutabilis effectively
showcased ceramic work from five
members of Claybodies Canberra. Craft
ACT members exhibition PlaceMakers
was another exhibition opportunity
and in November, Suki & Hugh Gallery,
Bungendore, hosted Time and Tide, an
exhibition of my ceramics with paintings
by Sara Freeman. I exhibited in Visionaries:
2019 Craft ACT Members Exhibition and
was again selected to be part of 2020
Craft ACT Members Exhibition, Care
of. I also contributed to Gungahlin Arts,
Postcards from Gungahlin, online during
2020 and was selected to exhibit in Liquid
at Belconnen Arts Centre.
Image: Sue Hewat, Lines in the Sand, 2020,
wheelthrown stoneware nerikomi glaze. Photo:
Courtesy of the artist.
55

Ruth Hingston
Accredited Professional Member / Textiles
Biography
Hingston’s work encompasses a complex
variety of objects and images, an
intertwining of three threads of sustained
enquiry-fashion, textiles and architecture.
All three are supported by a drawing
practice.
Fashion and textiles have been lifelong
companions; domestic architecture
is a more recent friend. Hingston
considers both garments and houses
to be expressions of identity and skins
for habitation. Textiles are her preferred
media to bring concepts to life.
After successfully completing a Masters
of Art at the Australian National University,
Hingston’s academic exploration
of Australian domestic vernacular
architecture drew her to a residency at Hill
End.
Initially Ruth’s focus was fashion and
printed textiles for kimonos, kites and
umbrellas. As a design student, she was
awarded the Gown of the Year at the WA
Fashion awards. As a graduate with a
Bachelor of Art from Curtin University,
Ruth was awarded a traineeship at
Sturt workshops in Mittagong. Then
a commission for custom designed
ecclesiastical vestments led to a decade
of work combining textile and fashion
design for clients.
Artist Statement
The tradition of Goldwork embroidery
began thousands of years ago. It has
been used to embellish costumes in
many cultures to signify honour, status,
royalty or religious significance. In my
textiles practice I have explored Goldwork
embroidery in Ecclesiastical commissions.
My current embroidery work continues
to be influenced from my residencies in
Belgrade and Montenegro where I studied
their magnificent gold embroidered
national costumes.
Goldwork is a specialised aspect of
embroidery. Originally, very fine filaments
of beaten gold were wrapped around plain
threads of cotton or linen to transform
the thread. Over the centuries special
techniques such as couching, have
evolved in applying these golden threads
onto the fabric’s surface, rather than
stitching into the fabric. The aim is always
to achieve maximum effect and splendour
with minimum wastage of gold thread.
Transforming the mundane into something
precious and valuable.
Image: Ruth Hingston, Byzantium, 2021,
embroidery, silk, linen, gold thread, cords,
sequinsm glass beads. Photo: Tim Brook
57

Bev Hogg
Accredited Professional Member / Ceramics
Biography
Bev Hogg grew up on a farm in rural
Western Australia. Following extensive
travel and living overseas, Hogg attended
the Australian National University School
of Art, graduating in 1989.
Hogg has been working as a visual artist,
exhibiting nationally and internationally.
Her multi-faceted practice includes
exhibiting sculptural ceramic and mixed
media, public art, workshops and teaching.
Hogg’s work has won several major
awards including the Canberra Circle
Visual Arts Award, The National Ceramic
Award and the Doug Alexander Memorial
Award, and is included in public collections
such as Parliament House, Artbank,
Goulburn Regional Art Gallery, Canberra
Museum and Gallery and the ACT
Legislative Assembly.
Artist Statement
This work belongs to a series titled
‘Tweets from the front line’focusing on the
importance of smalls birds as indicators
of environmental health.Borrowing from
ancient stories and myths I use symbols
as metaphors. Here in this sculpture ‘The
Promise of a Full Moon’, the egg is a world
of unhatched potential creating hope hand
crafted from earth. This work belongs
to a series titled ‘Tweets from the front
line’focusing on the importance of smalls
birds as indicators of environmental
health.Borrowing from ancient stories and
myths I use symbols as metaphors. Here
in this sculpture ‘The Promise of a Full
Moon’, the egg is a world of unhatched
potential creating hope hand crafted from
earth.
Hogg acknowledges the support of
artsACT for a Creative Arts Fellowship
in 2006, as well as an equipment grant
and project funding grant; the Australia
Council for the Arts for a studio residency
in Barcelona in 1996-97 and again in
2006 when her work was showcased at
Sculpture Objects and Functional Art,
Chicago.
Image: Bev Hogg, The promise of a full moon,
2021, clay slips underglaze. Photo: Brenton
McGeachie
59

Shen-Ju Hsieh
Associate Member / Ceramics
Biography
Shen-Ju Hsieh is a Canberra based
emerging Taiwanese ceramic artist who
is passionate about combining functional
everyday things and sculpture.
Shen-Ju has concentrated on exploring
wheel throwing and hand extruding
techniques in ceramics. Her pieces are
expressing emotions via reserving the
feature of the material. She creates the
anthropomorphic vessels and a situation
as a metaphor for the relationship
between humans and the environment.
Image: Shen-Ju Hsieh, Haven, 2021, ceramics.
Photo: Courtesy of the artist.
61

Alison Jackson + Dan Lorrimer
Accredited Professional Members / Metals
Biography
Artist Statement
Alison Jackson
Alison Jackson is a designer, maker
and contemporary Silversmith based
in Braidwood Australia. Completing a
Gold and Silversmithing degree at the
Australian National University, Alison holds
over a decade of artistic and technical
metal forming expertise.
Dan Lorrimer
Dan Lorrimer is a sculptor, machinist and
fabricator. With a degree in Sculpture from
the Australian National University, Dan has
since diversified his work, significantly
developing his skills across a wide range
of technical areas, specialising in metal
forming.
Flow Form Vases
Blending the complexities of custom
metalworking tooling with our approach
to making in small batches, we are able to
celebrate our skills in the art of production.
Through the design of our specialised
tooling for the Flow Form Vase, our
making process is identical for each
vase – yet, the visual outcome of each
vase is completely unique each time. This
means no two vases are ever alike and in
fact, impossible to replicate – resulting in
truly distinctive one of a kind pieces that
celebrate the individual nuances of form
and finish.
Image: Alison Jackson + Dan Lorrimer, Flow
Form Vase, 2021, stainless steel. Photo: Alison
Jackson.
62 63

Belinda Jessup
Accredited Professional Member / Textiles
Biography
Growing up in western New South Wales
and learning all forms of textile ‘crafts’
from her mother. She explores textiles
in the area of machine and hand stitch
and these provide an anchor to her
environment and practice. Over the years
her work has evolved to include woven
textiles and natural dyed, constructed
and stitched textiles. Having graduated
Bachelor of Arts (Visual), with Honours
in textiles, she has travelled to Japan,
Italy and Switzerland to further pursue
a technical knowledge of woven textiles
including a period of study of jacquard
weaving at Fondazione Arte della Seta
Lisio Florence Italy and RMIT Australia.
Belinda is particularly interested in
innovative materials that can be woven
into cloth for installation purposes.
She has exhibited locally , nationally
and internationally. She has had a solo
exhibition in Switzerland and shown
in group exhibitions in Japan and New
Zealand.
Artist Statement
Working with grids and pixels has long
held a fascination for me. Using a single
thread that can be transformed into an
embroidered cloth, completely reimagining
an image. Itinually the image is the most
important component of the work and
is chosen for a meaning of place, and
then it becomes a rhythmical process to
transform thread and image through a
pixel system to the completed cloth.
Image: Belinda Jessup, Mulga Moon, 2019-2020,
free machine embroidery, polyester thread.
Photo: Brenton McGeachie
64 65

Ian Jones
Accredited Professional Member / Ceramics
Biography
Ian Jones began working with clay as
a student at the Australian National
University School of Art. He then
worked as an apprentice for the late
Doug Alexander at Cuppacumbalong
Pottery, ACT and set up his own studio
at Gundaroo, NSW in 1979. In 1982 he
purchased a ruined stone church, Old
St Luke’s Church, and with help of an
Australia Council grant built a 14 metre
long wood-kiln, which was fired three
times each year until 1989, when he went
to Japan for three years.
Artist Statement
I have long been fascinated with the wide
range of ceramics produced in medieval
Japan, although most of my interest has
been targeted to the natural ash glazed
ceramics from Shigaraki and Bizen. I have
been inspired by the transformation of clay
in these wood-fired kilns for forty years or
more.
These unglazed wares were fired two
times in a reduction atmosphere for
periods totalling up to ten days, producing
a natural glaze from the deposited ash.
In 2000, he returned to and, with Moraig
McKenna, re-established the studio at Old
St Luke’s Church where he built a smaller
(9 metre long) anagama kiln, and opened
the Old Saint Luke’s Studio Gallery, as an
outlet for pottery with an emphasis on
work that is wood-fired.
In 2006 he received an ACT Chief
Minister’s Creative Arts Fellowship,
to produce work for an exhibition in
Shigaraki, Japan in April 2007.
Image: Ian Jones, Vase, 2020, wood-fried
ceramics. Photo: Courtesy of the artist.
67

Elizabeth Kelly
Accredited Professional Member / Glass
Biography
Elizabeth Kelly established Studio
Tangerine in 2003 from a need for a
dedicated studio to research and develop
small scale industrial processes of
coloured glass and other materials applied
to architecture, art and design.
Elizabeth’s practice cannot be easily
pidgeon-holed as she maintains a broad
approach to research be it conceptual or
technical, and is constantly seeking out
original modes of expression.
Artist Statement
A fascination of geometry and abstraction
has informed my work for more than a
decade and I have been concerned with
the energy resources it takes to practice
art making. I have found some solace in
upcycling used materials and industrial
waste to articulate current research. Both
my works use the inherently golden brass
elements to tie the compositions together
in harmony and contrast.
She has a committed passion for
exploration of colour and form and is
currently focussed on exploring the built
environment and patterns in engineering.
Underlying this subject is a fascination
with the social and historic values imbued
in architectural structures and the link to
scale perception, and chemistry of cellular
evolution.
Image: Elizabeth Kelly, The Persuasion, 2020,
wound copper, brass. Photo: Craft ACT
69

Jennifer Kemarre Martiniello
Accredited Professional Member / Glass
Biography
As a contemporary urban based Australian
Aboriginal (Arrernte) glass artist, my aim
is produce a body of traditionally inspired
works that will pay tribute to our traditional
weavers, and provide recognition for
these ancient cultural practices through
the contemporary medium of glass
within the aesthetics of both. My series
of Bark Baskets is inspired by the bark
baskets (tungas) from the Tiwi Islands
and variations of other bark baskets
from our freshwater and saltwater First
Nations. In stepping beyond hot blown
glass, I have kiln formed, enamelled and
coldworked hot blown glass with murrine,
and used natural plant fibres including tall
sedge reeds, natural and hand dyed raffia,
and lomandra to incorporate traditional
weaving in the final works.
Image: Jennifer Kemarre Martiniello, Yellow Bark
Basket, 2021. Photo: Brenton McGeachie
71

Dimity Kidston
Accredited Professional Member / Textiles
Biography
Dimity Kidston is a Canberra-based textile
and ceramic artist who designs bright
handcrafted Sgrafitto ceramic homewares
and unique hand woven tapestry pieces.
Coming from a family of artists, her
interest in creating beautiful functional
objects was developed at the Australian
National University’s School of Art and
the Duncan of Jordanstone College of
Art, Dundee, Scotland, where she studied
textiles and ceramics.
Dimity is passionate about form and
function, and creates unique, beautiful
objects and homewares that are both
decorative and durable. The motifs she
uses in her work are naïve, bold and
contemporary, often incorporating native
Australian leaves, pods and flowers.
Artist Statement
In these pieces, I explore the fragile
relationships between generations. The
powerful influence each generation has
on each other while maintaining a strong
independent identity.
My grandmother’s scarf collection
inspired the design displayed inside each
vintage wine box. The scarves worn
by my grandmother were elegant, soft
and silky, showing patterns of her era,
the 1960’s. The humble piece of cloth’s
transformation can evoke such a robust
response; headscarves can symbolise
modesty or religious beliefs. The
perspective and value placed on objects
and sentimental belongings are so full of
possibilities and wonder.
Dimity’s work can be found in homes and
galleries in Australia and overseas.
Image: Dimity Kidston, Tyrells, 2021. Photo:
Jamie Kidston.
73

Valerie Kirk
Accredited Professional Member / Textiles
Biography
Valerie Kirk studied art and design at
Edinburgh College of Art, where she
discovered woven tapestry. As a recent
graduate she came to Australia and
worked in the Victorian (now Australian)
Tapestry Workshop and travelled the
country to teach in communities and
colleges, work as an artist-in-residence,
exhibit and lead community tapestry
projects. She is an artist and tapestry
weaver, writer, teacher and public figure
who has made a significant contribution
internationally.
While actively maintaining her practice as
an artist, Valerie’s remarkable capacity
for achievement has seen her research
Australian Indigenous textiles, direct
significant projects, guest lecture on
international textile tours and create major
works.
During 2004-2019 she was commissioned
to design and weave six major tapestries
to celebrate Nobel/Japan/Kyoto Prizes
in Science associated with the Australian
National University.
The Gardener and Bruce Barnes
Thumbnail Collections in the National
Mineral and Fossil Collection fascinated
me– a world of minerals and precious
stones in pieces no bigger than your
thumb nail. The small scale is intriguing
and captivating, as the viewer has to be
close up to focus on the detail. Inspired
by the miniatures and striking examples
of Opal at GA, I wove a series of miniature
tapestry specimens exploring the colour,
texture, shape and form of Opals.
At Namadgi National Park I explored the
texture and colour of the land in autumn
by weaving small pieces referencing dried
grasses, bark, thistle, moss, burnt wood
and new growth. As a collection they
present a sense of place.
Both works relate to the practice of
collecting to study and learn about things,
to take time and observe, processing
through material exploration, the
transformation of materials and the place
of making in giving us a new viewpoint.
Artist Statement
In 2021 I completed the Craft ACT
Residency at Geoscience Australia and
Namadgi National Park.
Image: Valerie Kirk, Namadgi Thumbnail
Collection, 2021, tapestry, various yarns. Photo:
Courtesy of the artist.
75

Nicola Knackstredt
Associate Member / Metals
Biography
Nicola Knackstredt has created jewellery
for herself, her friends and her family
from an early age. As an adult, Nicola
discovered silversmithing, and stepped
away from a career as a human rights
lawyer to pursue her interest. She studied
Gold & Silversmithing at the Australian
National University in Canberra, where she
was recognised for excellence in gold and
silversmithing in her first year of studies.
Nicola has since turned her interest into a
business.
Artist Statement
The idea for these pieces, ‘Hidden
Treasure I’ and ‘Hidden Treasure II’, was
born from the desire to turn scrap sheet
metal into beads that could be strung onto
a necklace. The ‘beads’ in these pieces
are all different shapes and sizes. Where
the bead appears in a sequence, it has
been made to respond to the bead next
to it—the unique differences of the beads
allow them to fit together snuggly, forming
a harmonious sequence.
The use of ‘scrap’ metal comes back to
my ethos about a sustainable practice
(as much as the metal I use will allow),
and honouring the material I use to
make my art. I am very conscious of the
environmental impact of my practice,
principally that metal is a finite resource
extracted from the ground. I therefore
try to reuse and repurpose as much of
the metal as possible in my practice,
and source ethically and sustainably
extracted and refined metal. I want people
interacting with my jewellery to know that
I make my work conscientiously, in a way
that supports collective wellbeing.
These pieces are made from oxidised
(black) and surface enriched (white)
sterling silver. As the wearer interacts with
the piece over time—through touching,
holding, wearing—the white and black on
the surface of the metal will disappear,
revealing a hidden treasure: a sterling
silver necklace.
The pieces are made to respond to the
wearer—an exclusive relationship between
wearer and jewellery.
Both works relate to the practice of
collecting to study and learn about things,
to take time and observe, processing
through material exploration, the
transformation of materials and the place
of making in giving us a new viewpoint.
Image: Nicola Knackstredt, Hidden Treasure II,
2021, sterling silver. Photo: Courtesy of the artist.
77

Benedict Laffan
Associate Member / Wood
Biography
Benedict Laffan is a designer and maker
of fine solid wood furniture, selected
cabinetry and objects who has lived
and worked in his craft in both Sweden
and Canberra Australia. At the core of
his practice is a deep understanding of
his preferred material wood and a vast
knowledge and experience in using
traditional joinery techniques while also
embracing the modern design aesthetic
and materials such as plywood to create
unique pieces for his clients and exhibition.
Ben has a distinct design language which
expresses an interest in Scandinavian
and Japanese architecture and furniture
while paying respect to the material wood
and it’s source. Ben completed studies at
the ANU School of Art Wood workshop in
2002 and has continuously practiced and
worked in industry in both countries which
has given him the strongest foundation in
launching his new practice Detailed Wood
in 2008.
Image: Benedict Laffan, Table. Photo: Craft ACT
78 79

Cassandra Layne
Associate Member / Glass
Biography
Cassandra Layne graduated from the ANU
School of Art’s Glass Workshop in 2015. In
2018 she began her Master of Art History
and Curatorial Studies at the ANU with
the intention of bridging the gap between
makers and those who display and collect
their work.
Specialising in kiln formed glass,
Cassandra uses abstract carvings and
patterns to demonstrate how light and
surface can be manipulated to create a
deception of distance, depth and size. Her
works are highly textured and encourage
the viewer to move in close. This is helped
by the use of strong bold contrasting
colours.
Artist Statement
Specialising in kiln formed glass, Canberra
based artist, Cassandra, uses abstract
carvings and patterns to demonstrate
how light and surface can be manipulated
to create a deception of distance, depth
and size. Her works are highly textured
and encourage the viewer to move in
close. This is helped by the use of bold
contrasting colours, and thick application
of enamelled paints and glass powders.
The contrast plays on the eyes natural
ability to sustain a consistent image. The
carved imagery punches through the
patterning on top giving a look of depth
and layer.
The glass may appear denser, further
away or three-dimensional. Observing
the work for an extended period of time
causes the clear-cut circles to blur and
the surrounding pattern to lose its stability
and become more convincingly false.
Only by touching the surface of the panel
is the illusion completely broken and
the work completes its journey into a
comprehensively solid object.
The work relates to the practice of
collecting to study and learn about things,
to take time and observe, processing
through material exploration, the
transformation of materials and the place
of making in giving us a new viewpoint.
Image:Cassandra Layne, Changing Places, 2021,
kiln formed glass with enamels. Photo: Brenton
McGeachie.
81

Chelsea Lemon
Associate Member / Wood
Biography
Chelsea Lemon is a Canberra based
designer and maker who works with
timber. Many of her pieces include foliage
and plant themes, mixed with interactivity
and the decorative woodworking
technique ‘parquetry’.
Chelsea’s work explores new ways of
incorporating shapes into design, by
creating dynamic geometric arrangements
and forms that are influenced by nature
and architecture.
In 2015 she graduated from the Australian
National University with her Honours in
a Bachelor of Visual Arts, majoring in
Furniture Design. Chelsea was the 2018
Design Canberra Artist in Residency, and
has exhibited her furniture at Parliament
House, Australia.
Artist Statement
The Callistemon Low Table reflects
the repetitive, yet organic, patterns
found within Australian native plants.
The surface design of the Callistemon
Low Table has been based on a bottle
brush seed pod, and is constructed with
parquetry to depict botanic patterns.
Various Australian timber species have
been used to reflect the origin of the plant
and to represent form through different
timber tones and colours. The illusion of
dimension is created as light refracts off
the parquetry and grain direction, allowing
the surface to represent the dimensional
forms of the plant.
Chelsea’s work questions archetypical
furniture, and showcases a new and fresh
approach to a traditional woodworking
technique. Her practice incorporates art
into craft and design, and offers a new
perspective on furniture design within
Australia.
Image: Chelsea Lemon, Callistemon Low Table,
blackbutt, spotted gum, blackwood, iron bark,
460 x 995 x 350mm. Photo: Courtesy of the
artist.
82 83

Bethany Lick
Associate Member / Glass
Biography
Bethany is a Canberra based emerging
glass artist who seeks to provoke curiosity
and stimulate interaction through her
works. Themes of weightlessness,
narrative and movement inspire her.
Bethany enjoys crafting useful objects,
while conceptual investigations create
space for experiment and play.
Since moving to Canberra to study glass at
the Australian National University in 2017,
Bethany has assisted many glass artists in
the local community. After the graduating
exhibition of 2019 she was awarded a
residency at the Canberra Glassworks,
2020. She enjoys teaching at the Canberra
Glassworks, and continues to develop hotglass
skills in community.
Artist Statement
Bethany’s practice focuses on hot-glass
processes and reflects a journey accented
by questioning, and the wonder of
discovery.
COVID19 lockdowns inspired the Isolation
series. They are an exploration of the
momentary, transitory drama of light and
dark switching places. The process of
change shows every day in the sky, but
lockdown forced simplified lives to slow
down, to notice.
Isolation is a response to the joyous color
and light of planets spinning, against
a backdrop of COVID solitude, and
uncertainty. The blown pieces explore
hot glass techniques, and the emotion of
color. They capture both movement and
stillness through spherical form.
Image: Bethany Lick, Isolated, 2020, blown glass,
hand finished. Photo: Courtesy of the artist.
85

René Linssen
Associate Member / Industrial Design
Biography
René Linssen is a South African born,
Australian Industrial Designer living and
working in Canberra, Australia.
René loves the challenges of Industrial
Design, finding a way to improve people’s
lives with a product that satisfies a need
and that can be aesthetically pleasing
at the same time. He also feels strongly
about the responsibilities implicit in a
career that he believes has a big impact in
shaping the world we live in.
Currently an Industrial Designer at
Australian product design company
Formswell Design, he is involved in a
diverse range of design work in industries
from sports, outdoors, homewares,
government and more.
René has won several national design
awards including Vogue Living / Alessi
Emerging Designer Award (2015), Belle
/ Alessi Design Award (2017) and was
a finalist in the Mercedes-Benz Design
Award (2018).
René is still involved closely with the
University of Canberra since completing
his Bachelor of Industrial Design in 2016.
He is currently acting as a sessional
lecturer for their Industrial Design
program.
Artist Statement
Arch is a contemporary book end crafted
in a variety of materials, including timber,
marble and brass.
In 2017, René co-founded the furniture
company Furnished Forever with fellow
Canberra designer Elliot Bastianon. The
company focuses on furniture for high
volume commercial and residential
applications with an emphasis on local
manufacturing.
Image: René Linssen, Arch Bookends, 2021,
brass. Photo: Pew Pew Studio.
87

David Liu
Associate Member / Wood
Biography
David is a Cabrera-based artist, designer
and furniture maker. He uses geometric
shapes and perspective views in his
furniture practice and highlights his
work with optical illusion. Audiences are
invited to look at and interpret his works
from different angles. David understands
and expresses the beauty of a complex
world with simplified forms. For instance,
he abstracted the shapes of a curly
leaf and designed the Leaf Table. David
holds a Bachelor of Design degree from
ANU School of Art and Design, is the
2021 furniture workshop associate in
JamFactory, Adelaide.
Artist Statement
This body of work investigated the
transformation of forms and the
underlying meaning of forms, colours and
context. The inspiration of this work is
paper folding, where creases transform
the two-dimensional area into 3D space.
Unlike the regular table with an integrated
tabletop, the whole shape is folded and
divided through a series of geometric
structures. In the global pandemic
context, the division of the world became
unprecedented among different races,
countries, ideologies, even people
vaccinated and people against it. This
work is to communicate the conflicts and
division of the people, groups and society
and raise the awareness of the hardship
to survive the divided world. Classic black
and white colours are the representation
of such oppositions. The uneven heights
of two halves of the tabletop are to
raise the awareness of inequality. The
height differences, inequality, could be
overlooked from a different perspective
because of optical illusion. It implied the
struggle and challenges from one side.
The open space underneath has a gap
between the two halves, where a beam of
light can illuminate the dark bottom. It is
the silver lining in such a chaotic world.
Image: David Liu, Will be all right, 2021, plywood,
hand finished. Photo: Courtesy of the artist.
89

Will Maguire
Associate Member / Metals
Biography
Will Maguire is a blacksmith who
combines deep knowledge of craft with
experimental design methodology to
bring fresh eyes to a deeply industrial and
masculinised medium. His works span the
practical and the sculptural with an eye for
form, shadow, surface texture and weight.
Since completing his trade Will travelled
extensively as a journeyman before
settling in the Hunter Valley. He has
exhibited widely in Australia, including
Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi; and
internationally in UK and USA. His work
has been acquired by The University of
Newcastle and the public collections of
ACT, Newcastle, Wagga Wagga, Singleton,
Cessnock and Langemark-Poelkapelle
(Belgium).
Artist Statement
These fire tools aim to move beyond
function by rethinking traditional
blacksmithing technique to utilise the
natural non-fussy tendencies of hot
forging and combine it with aesthetic
judgment to produce objects of value.
Fire tools are wall mounted with 6mm
coach screws, discussion should be had to
figure out best mode of installation.
Image: Will Maguire, Concept fire stool set, 2021,
forged steel with wax finish. Photo: Courtesy of
the artist.
91

Daniel Margules
Associate Member / Wood
Biography
Daniel Margules (Sparks & Dust) is a
Canberra based designer specialising in
handcrafted furniture, blending steel and
timber into contemporary design. Last
year, Daniel was a finalist at Denfair’s 2019
Front & Centre Exhibition (Melbourne)
and the Décor & Design’s Vivid Design
Competition (Melbourne).
Daniel says ‘Working with timber and steel
are two very distinct processes. I have had
to improve and refine my skills to produce
pieces that have a seamless crisp design.”
So much care, craft and passion goes into
the design of each piece. Even though a
design can look simplistic, there is a lot
involved to achieve this. The clean lines
and quality materials in his pieces can add
a modern aesthetic to a space.
Artist Statement
The Lenny Console is the console version
of year’s entry, the Luna Duo. Handcrafted
using Reclaimed Blackbutt, the Lenny
Console is strong, durable and stylish,
featuring a steel-plate drawfront, 3- pinned
hairpin legs and the unique side detail of
Japanese timber nails.
Transforming used hardwood into
beautiful furniture pieces is a rewarding
process. I think this process provides the
piece with a better aesthetic than using
brand new timber.
In our modern world filled with massproduced
‘throw-away fast-furniture’,
Daniel finds it rewarding to create quality
handmade designs that are functional
and durable yet stylish and modern. Each
product is made with great care and
attention to detail and aims to minimise
the environmental impact by sourcing
materials locally which in turn, supports
other Canberra small businesses. Proudly
handmade in Canberra!
Image: Daniel Margules, Lenny Console, 2021,
reclaimed blackbutt timber and steel. Photo:
Courtesy of the artist.
93

Isabelle Mackay-Sim
Associate Member / Ceramics
Biography
Isabelle Mackay-Sim is an emerging
Australian ceramic artist and 2018
graduate from the Australian National
University Ceramics Department. Since
graduating she has participated in
numerous exhibitions and residencies
in Australia and Internationally. In 2019,
Mackay-Sim’s work was included in
the online exhibition for the Gyeonggi
International Korean Ceramics Biennale,
and she went on to receive the Talente
Award from the Munich International Craft
Fair in 2020. Mackay-Sim’s sculptural
ceramic practice centres around a passion
for exploring intersectional feminist
issues, featuring the body as a pivotal
motif. Mackay-Sim uses the figure in her
work as a tool for communicating emotion
and vulnerability.
Image: Isabelle Mackay-Sim, Frosted demijohn
(nude), 2021, midfire ceramic. Photo: Courtesy
of the artist.
94 95

Jenny Manning
Associate Member / Textiles
Biography
“I have, since my studies in the 1980s,
been obsessed with wrapping, knotting,
tangling and constructing with rope,
wool and other fibres. I created and
made drawings of three dimensional
wrapped and knotted structures during
my sculpture degree and these forms have
been referred to in my practice ever since.
I have explored the parallels between
human and animal veins, arteries and
organs with those found in the plant and
insect kingdoms. These networks for
transmitting life fluids seem to be repeated
in the microscopic world as well as in
the structure of river deltas and erosion
gullies. Electron microscopic images of
fungi have stimulated a series of large
black and white pen and ink drawings
where the intricacy and beauty of the
filamentous growth patterns belies their
toxic effects on humans and animals.
My interest in creating three dimensional
illusion on a flat surface resulted in an
extended exploration of decorated basket
and boat images which then led to the
creation of brightly coloured, intricately
patterned baskets using a wrapping and
coiling process. More recently my abiding
interest in colour and pattern in three
dimensions has led to the creation of a
number of patchwork knitted mohair quilts
which echo the same colours and patterns
found in my colourful coil baskets. My
long involvement with Networks Australia
has also resulted in contributions to many
exhibitions, most recently in both Wagga
Wagga and Moruya.
My paintings, drawings and textile works
are held in many private collections.”
Image: Jenny Manning, Sparkly basket, 2021,
coiled basket with beads. Photo: Craft ACT.
96 97

Cam Michael
Associate Member / Glass + Mixed Media
Biography
Cam Michael is an emerging mixed
media artist interested in social inclusion,
working with themes of redefining value
and potential, and relationships between
personal identity and perception in the
spaces we inhabit.
His work is broadly informed through life
experiences of disability, being a carer
and support worker for others, living in
Australia but growing up elsewhere, and
identifying as LGBTI. Things that are
not always visible or seen as valuable
by others in society. As a result, Cam
has been interested in the value of the
perspective of the ‘other’ and the benefits.
of social inclusion and new perspectives.
Artist Statement
It stands alone but creates an additional
dialogue about process and outcome
with its companion piece ‘Washing’. The
Machine represents the ‘before’ moment
of starting to navigate the creative
process, the awe of the unknown in
looking at something familiar in a new
light.
As we navigate an unknown time where
many of us are forced at home - akin
to my experiences with disability and
as a carer prior to COVID, the familiar
becomes a new muse. The world grows
smaller as we find wonder in the everyday
but larger in our shared experience and
understanding.
I wish to acknowledge Luna Ryan for her
support and mentoring to help bring this
work to fruition.
The machine literally transforms the
ordinary into the extraordinary, and is
also a metaphor for the creative process
and how something can be familiar and
expected but still produce unexpected
outcomes no matter our level of technical
expertise.
Image: Cam Michael, The Machine, 2021, cast
glass. Photo: Andrew Sikorski - Art Atelier.
99

Sarah Murphy
Associate Member / Metals + Glass
Biography
Murphy maintains her practice in
Canberra at M16 Artspace where she
creates her work to exhibit nationally.
In 2011, she received her Bachelor of
Visual Arts, School of Art, Australian
National University – Major Gold and
Silversmithing and since then has been a
finalist in various contemporary jewellery
award exhibitions, including most recently
The Contemporary Australian Silver and
Metalwork Award at Castlemaine Art
Gallery in 2015.
Artist Statement
This small series of jewellery explores
ideas around consumption. By working
with discarded tin cans, I hope to
encourage the wearer and the viewer
to consider the potential of ‘single use’
household items.
The choice not to discard, but repurpose.
Image: Sarah Murphy, Full Circle I, 2021,
reclaimed household tin can, stainless steel,
vitreous enamel. Photo: Courtesy of the artist.
101

Catherine Newton
Associate Member / Glass
Biography
Catherine Newton is a glass artist who
hugs hot glass. She is a mother of four and
grandmother to one, this role inspired her
to use hot blown glass to embody a sense
of maternal love and intimacy. Informed
by psychological and theories of ‘nature
versus nurture’ and influenced by artists
Mary Kelly and Louise Bourgeois, Newton
exploited the materiality of glass to realise
her work.
In 2016 she graduated from the Australian
National University School of Art with
a Bachelor of Visual Arts (Honours)
and was awarded the Emerging Artist
Support Scheme Peter and Lena Karmel
Anniversary Award for best graduating
student.
Newton was Graduate in Residence at
the Canberra Glassworks in March 2017
during which time she began to fulfil her
ambition to highlight the important role
of mothers by involving mothers from the
Canberra community to participate in her
work.
Artist Statement
My work focuses on touch, now restricted
and on all our minds. Many of the
population took for granted our social
connections until March last year, now
they have become contraband. Our world
has changed.
Confined in our own homes, restricted
to a life we don’t know how to navigate.
Meeting someone outside our circle we
have become wary and don’t know how
to greet them. The simple act of touching,
shaking hands or a tap on the shoulder
has become awkward and potentially
deadly. We see others as disease carriers,
ticking time bombs, the simple act of
touching them could change our lives
forever. This work is cast pieces of solid
glass with a void of a dolls hand, trapped
inside. The human need for touch and
comfort is denied and the hands are
reaching out for physical comfort but will
never break through the layers.
Image: Catherine Newton, Entombed, 2021,
glass. Photo: Damien Newton
103

Peter Nilsson
Accredited Professional Member / Glass
Biography
After Peter Nilsson completed his
technical education at the Swedish
National Glass School in Orrefors in 1985,
he worked as an engraver and artist’s
assistant at the Pukeberg Glass Workshop.
In 1989, he represented The Kingdom of
Glass and Crystal at the I.T.B. fair in Berlin
and participated in the summer exhibition
at the Swedish Glass Museum in Vaxjo.
Artist Statement
My sculpture Fire and ice is a
representation of the world creation myth
from my homeland. In the beginning there
was a war between fire and ice and in the
fusion of the two, a giant was born. His
name was Ymer and from his body the
world was created.
When Nilsson completed his
undergraduate studies at the University
of Lund in 1995, Mats Jonasson offered
him work as an art director’s assistant at
Mats Jonasson Sweden. Here, Nilsson
represented the company and Swedish
glass art in Canada, the USA, Japan and
Holland. During this time, he received the
Glassworkers Unions Travel Scholarship
and studied at the Urban Glass Workshop
in New York.
Image: Peter Nilsson, Fire and Ice, 2021,
laminated floatglass with internal stained
engraving, internal LED light, kilnformed recycled
TV screen. Photo: Dr TIm Brook.
105

NOT
Associate Member / Glass + Ceramics
Biography
NOT is a self-taught artist working
primarily in glass and ceramic. As a
member of claypool and with training
at Gymea TAFE, the artist’s ceramic
installations were first publicly shown at
Hazelhurst Regional Gallery in the group
exhibition Glazed & Confused (2014–15),
and, most recently, with Kronenberg
Mais Wright in Sydney. In late 2016, NOT
began working with Canberra Glassworks
to produce a new series of installations
made from hand-etched lead crystal
and recycled TV screens, including Song
dynasty and TV screen Buddha, which, in
2017, was shortlisted for the Woollahra
Small Sculpture Prize. Mid-2018 saw the
artist’s solo presentation of Song dynasty
at Kronenberg Mais Wright, and the group
show Confluence at Canberra Glassworks.
In September 2018, NOT’s The China
syndrome was a finalist in the Hindmarsh
Prize, with the work exhibited at the
prestigious Toyama Glass Art Museum in
Japan. In May 2019, the artist’s mixedmedia
installation Reliqui was included
in the Australian Ceramics Triennale
exhibition Manifest curated by Damon
Moon in Hobart. In late 2019, NOT’s work
was curated into River on the Brink: inside
the Murray-Darling Basin at Sydney’s S.H.
Ervin Gallery, and was shortlisted for the
biennial Still: National Still Life Award at
Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery.
Artist Statement
The gilded, burnished hue of Invisible hand
(2021) not only reveals the reverence given
to objects as they are transformed through
worship into sacred deities, but also the
alchemy of their very materials which –
though the artist’s hand – transforms
earthly clay and sand into porcelain and
glass, in the process illuminating the eye
and inviting a different way of seeing.
The choice not to discard, but repurpose.
Image: NOT, Invisible Hand, 2021, lead crystal
kilnformed glass, handblown furnace glass, high
fired porcelain, woven paper and faux wood.
Photo: Courtesy of the artist.
107

Melanie Olde
Accredited Professional Member / Textiles
Biography
Melanie Olde is an experienced weaver
of complex cloth and colourful designs.
She strives for technical integrity and
innovative thought in woven cloth,
reflecting on the past while stretching the
potential of her medium for the future.
Melanie’s professional weaving experience
has been in business, research,
teaching and exhibiting nationally and
internationally, with her work continually
driven by curiosity and new learning.
She independently researches cellular
structures for form, function and array
in order to interpret these in biomimetic,
complex woven cloth. The ease of thinking
of cloth in 3-dimensions combined with
Melanie’s proven high level of knowledge
in woven structure, ensures her research
leads to innovative exploration and design.
mathematical configuration. The brick-like
design of slightly irregular shapes mimics
the microscopic packing arrangement
of cells. The use of paper yarn directly
connects the cellulose material that plant
cell walls are made of to the object’s
construction. Thus, the paper is the
physicality of the plant cells that the weave
structure represents. The hand dyed
colour gradation represents the transition
of growth, without which neither the paper
yarn nor the form would be realised. The
vessel’s vague, elliptical shape references
the stem to which the cells form and
provide opportunities for strength and
flexibility.
The expression of this concept using
advanced modern weaving techniques,
connects a millennia old craft and
natural materials with contemporary
methodology, craft and design.
Artist Statement
This piece demonstrates a circular
transformation of material, form and
concept, coalescing in a 3D loom-woven
vessel, representing plant growth and
structure.
The viewer can enter the self-referencing
loop by considering the 3d woven
structure, which was influenced by
the abstraction of plant cells and their
Image: Melanie Olde, Bio-symmetry vessel in
progress, 2021, multi-layered hand woven, hand
dyed paper yarn. Photo: Craft ACT
109

Kanun Onsel
Associate Member / Wood
Biography
Kanun Onsel is a South Coast based
Artistic Furniture Designer/Maker who has
developed his own unique style combining
the modern and traditional way of working
with exotic timbers and mix media.
Being inspired with a combination
of textures, colours and influence of
geometrical structures and shapes, his
designs are unlimited!
His passion is endless for his work with
quality and fine craftmanship creating
unique and original pieces which
represents his artistic way of working, to
finishing his work with many view points
and illusions which leaves the eye to give
its own interpretations.
Artist Statement
My Artistic woodworking skills is an
inspiration of what is around like textures,
colours and features of everyday
surroundings with geometrical structures.
Over the years I have developed my own
unique style combining the modern the
traditional. I love to work with mix media
creating unique and dynamic finishes
with a balance of colour and shapes to
my original pieces which range from
furniture -hallway tables, coffee tables
and sculptural pieces like vases and
panels which represent my artistic way of
working.
Image: Kanun Onsel, ‘G R A C E F U L ‘ trio
sculptural vase, 2021, mixed media, timber.
Photo: Julijana Griffiths
111

Emilie Patteson
Associate Member / Glass
Biography
Emilie Patteson is a contemporary artist,
practicing mainly in glass and illustration.
She grew up in Orange, NSW, and moved
to Canberra in 2009 to study Glass at
the Australian National University. She
graduated with Honours in 2012. Emilie
now bases her practice from a studio at
the Canberra Glassworks.
Artist Statement
Endlessly inspired by fallen gum leaves, I
strip the subject back to the bare minimum
to work only with line. “Drawing” with wire,
each leaf is made individually by hand, so
just like real leaves no two are the same.
Emilie explores themes of nature and
life cycles through her work, with a
particular focus on tiny details that often
are overlooked. She is interested in using
these details to juxtapose life and death,
and growth and decay, to examine the
fleetingness of life.
Image: Emilie Patteson, Tessellate Eucalyptus
7, 2021. Painted Wire, shadow. Photo: David
Hempenstall
113

Sue Peachey
Associate Member / Ceramics
Biography
Sue Peachey has a deep appreciation
and gratitude for all that sustains us on
planet Earth. Hand building with coloured
porcelain and using the technique of
nerikomi, she makes ceramics that
evoke our natural world in the wish that
other humans may also connect. Sue’s
background is in landscape design,
permaculture and poetry. River’s Edge
Ceramics can be found at Studio 7 in the
delightful garden of Canberra Potters
Society.
Artist Statement
In the same way that patchwork quilts
were historically a means of domestic
economy, using up the offcuts of fabric
from handmade garments and reinventing
them into attractive and useful items, this
cylinder incorporates clay offcuts from
other work to create an original piece that
has its own voice.
The work recycles and repurposes
materials, valuing resourcefulness and
frugality and alluding to a change in
behaviour that is needed to transform our
ideas around consumption and waste. We
continue to misuse planetary resources.
$10bn of gold, platinum, copper and other
precious metals are dumped in e-waste
globally each year. In 2019 Australians and
New Zealanders disposed of 21.3kgs of
e-waste per person while the collection
rate was a mere 9%.
Sue Peachey is an emerging ceramic
artist who hand builds predominately in
coloured porcelain using the technique
of nerikomi. Based in Canberra, her New
Zealand home and the stream around its
boundary are currently under threat from
a proposed gold mine from Australian/
Canadian owned mining company Oceana
Gold.
Image: Sue Peachey, Patchwork, 2021. Coloured
porcelian nerikomi. Photo: Craft ACT
115

Julie Pennington
Associate Member / Ceramics
Biography
Julie Pennington is a Canberra-based
ceramic artist. Julie’s practice was
originally in the Southern Highlands of
NSW where she worked from her studio as
well as teaching ceramics in the local area.
Julie works predominately in porcelain,
and uses the unglazed white surface to
explore her interest in pattern and texture.
Hand-built sculptural work is the focus,
whether that be through experimental
pieces or vessels forms.
Julie has been a finalist in a number of
ceramic competitions, and in 2016 was
the Winner of the Significant 3D Award
at Stanthorpe Art Festival Qld. Julie has
exhibited nationally and has accepted
private international commissions. A
recent publication of the book Clay:
Contemporary Ceramic Artisans by Amber
Cresswell Bell includes Julie’s work.
Artist Statement
I hand build ceramic sculptural vessels
that investigate the subtilities and
complexities of pattern and texture.
Much of the inspiration behind my work
stems from observations and emotional
responses to the natural environment.
The dramatic changes in our environment
in recent times, has led me to work with
clay bodies that reference the visual and
tactile characteristics of a dry and burnt
landscape.
In an attempt to bring new energy
and meaning to my work I have been
experimenting with ceramic stains to
make coloured clay to use in addition
to the dark and earthy clays. The
slivers of colour incorporated into the
monochromatic surfaces of my vessels
bring a sense of playfulness and light to
the otherwise quiet and sombre qualities
of my vessels. The introduction of colour
in these works has also created an
opportunity to further develop the textile
attributes that also underpin my making.
Image: Julie Pennington, Untitled, 2021. Black
mid fire claytoast midfire with coloured porcelain
highlights. Photo: Andrew Sikorski - Art Atelier.
117

Sharon Peoples
Accredited Professional Member / Textiles
Biography
Sharon Peoples has exhibited nationally
and internationally over her career. In
1994, she completed a Masters (Visual
Arts) in the textiles workshop at the
Australian National University’s School of
Art. In 2004, she embarked on a PhD in
fashion theory in the former Art History
Department of the ANU. She returned
to making in 2010 after completing
her doctorate. Since that time, she has
been developing techniques in machine
embroidery on soluble fabric which has
resulted in lace patterning.
Experimentation and research with
various threads, particularly metal threads
led to creating large three-dimensional
forms. In 2011 this was rewarded with the
inclusion of her work in the international
Love Lace exhibition at the Powerhouse
Museum. She has further developed these
techniques culminating in a substantial
body of work, which has been exhibited in
a solo exhibition, Habitus. She continues
to experiment with lace structures.
Artist Statement
I explore plants and gardens: the inner
secret garden, artists’ gardens, public
gardens, national parks as gardens
and gardens of the imagination. My
‘garden’ is the areas I walk – the local
hills and national parks. Fragility of
both the environment and the human
condition is reflected in the medium: the
stitch. In thinking of very large historic
embroideries, such as the Bayeux
Tapestry, the marks of stitchers, restorers
and menders stand to illustrate the repair,
care and protection that is required for the
environment. I use my work, embroidery,
as a metaphor for repair.
I have chosen to submit The White
Gardener, as it picks up on the themes of
transformation. My work made a large
transformation while in Lockdown in 2020.
I began to explore my own garden and
myself as a gardener. This work is from a
series of gardeners that was made using
grant money for materials from CraftACT
under the auspices of CAPO. This is the
result of some of the work.
Image: Sharon Peoples, White Gardener, 2021.
Machine embroider; rayon polyester thread and
cotton. Photo: Courtesy of the artist.
119

Kirstie Rea
Accredited Professional Member / Glass
Biography
Having established her studio in 1987,
following her graduation from the Glass
program at the Canberra School of
Art, Kirstie has over the past 29 years
continued to develop her practice to
become internationally recognised and
respected for her works in glass.
She has exhibited widely internationally
and her work has been included in
numerous Australian Glass survey
shows. Kirstie has had solo exhibitions
in Australia, the USA, New Zealand and
Hong Kong and her work is now included
in international collections such as the
Victoria and Albert Museum, London,
the National Gallery of Australia and the
Alexander Tutsek-Stiftung Foundation in
Munich Germany.
Artist Statement
I usually walk alone in places beyond the
suburban.
Place soaks deep under my skin and
wraps around me. Back home memory
and being there still cling to me.
Walks and exploration beyond the city are
now set within but the local still has the
power to enfold and stain me with place.
Image: Kirstie Rea, When the Local come Alive,
2020, digital Inkjet print, folded glass. Photo:
David Paterson
121

Jennifer Robertson
Accredited Professional Member / Textiles
Biography + Artist Statement
Jennifer Robertson was born in Somerset,
England, migrated to Australia in 1986
and established studio practice in WA,
from 1987. Holding an Honours Degree
from West Surrey College of Art and
Design, UK, Post Graduate Woven Textile
Studies at the Royal College of Art, London
and Jacquard Certificates from the
Fondazione Arte della Seta Lisio, Florence,
Italy, Jennifer lectured at the Australian
National University School of Art and
Design, Canberra, from 1997 – 2020.
Kindled by curiosity and wonder of the
natural world, Jennifer’s body of work
is inhabited with animal, vegetable and
mineral materiality, exploring primary
thematic research that references
complex cultural, historic, scientific and
poetic ideas. These are transformed
and refined through engaging with
intermediary personal and original
hand weaving techniques and artistic
processes. Structure and surface stem
from earth science, natural and textile
history collections, micro and macro
photography, biological and scientific
illustrations. Unconventional materials -
basalt, silver/polyester and silk threads
are formed into a supplementary weft
faced, large-scale, physical and tactile
tubular column construction seeking our
acquaintance.
Jennifer Robertson’s textiles have received
wide recognition internationally and
nationally, including many prestigious
awards, exhibitions, key research grants
and collaborations. Works are held in
numerous private and public collections,
including the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian
Design Museum, New York, USA, NUNO
Corporation, Tokyo, Japan, Queen
Elizabeth II, Buckingham Palace, London,
and the National Gallery of Australia,
Canberra. Jennifer sustains an extensive
international and national exhibition
schedule and recently was awarded the
Award for Excellence at the competitive
11th Lausanne to Beijing International
Textile Biennial 2021 for her work ‘Tectonic
Lineations 2’.
Image: Jennifer Robertson, Ropy Flow, 2017.
Basalt, silverpolyester, silk. Photo: Courtesy of
the artist.
123

Barbara Rogers
Accredited Professional Member / Textiles
Biography
Barbara Rogers trained as a dress
designer at the National Art School in
Sydney and has worked in the fashion
and clothing industry, gaining experience
with natural and synthetic fabrics while
also designing and producing ranges of
clothing. Rogers was introduced to shibori
almost 20 years ago by Inga Hunter at a
Textile Forum workshop and this has had
a profound influence on her work. She has
broadened her knowledge of shibori with
research in Japan and the United States of
America, attending many workshops with
tutors such as Yoshiko Wada and Ana Lisa
Hedstrom, both well known authorities in
the field of shibori.
Her textiles and clothing are individually
made, designed and patterned with shibori
using leather and fabrics such as silks
and linens. She has a particular interest in
selective bleaching and dyeing, in building
up layers of both colour and design to
create unique effects on a single fabric, as
well as layering lengths of sheer patterned
fabric.
Artist Statement
Playing on light and shadow, the crossed
lines and rectangles produce a rhythmic
repetition and variation in shimmering
shapes and stripes that create movement
in the layering of intricately composed,
resist-dyed and stitched silks.
In a process of adding and subtracting,
masking and revealing, textile artist and
designer, Barbara Rogers, incorporates
innovative shibori techniques with other
traditional resist-dye processes in her
unique artworks to create subtly varied
patterns and rhythms that work in
harmony with the cloth.
Rogers has gained international acclaim
for her work which has been exhibited in
Australia and internationally.
Image: Barbara Rogers, Transitions, 2021. Shot
silk satin, silk organza, clamp resist dyed, decoloured.
Photo: Catherine Rogers
125

Fran Romano
Associate Member / Ceramics
Biography
Fran Romano is a Canberra-based
ceramist. Since completing her studies
at the ANU School of Art in mid-2013, she
has developed both a production business
and her art practice, operating under the
name, FRattempo.
Fran has exhibited regularly in group
shows in Canberra, nationally and
internationally. Her work is inspired
by memory, history and nostalgia
investigated through the use of layering
and experimenting with surface texture
and photographic imagery.
Fran has developed functional designs
for Cafes and restaurants including Rye
Cafe in Braddon and Jackalope Hotels in
Victoria.
Fran currently works from her home studio
in the inner city. Inquiries and visits from
the public are most welcome.
Artist Statement
Themes of loss, longing and nostalgia
inform my work. Through the lens of my
Southern Italian heritage, I take inspiration
from the textures and patinas of Europe,
finding the archaeology and history
compelling. A fascination with the Catholic
ritual and pageantry suffusing everyday
life also at times, informs my work.
Making abstract vessels using stiffened,
textured clay slabs, I work intuitively,
building up a sense of history through
layering on the surface of the clay.
Using found and handmade objects,
alongside printed clay fragments, I create
installations exploring death rituals and
shrine-culture.
My abstract vessels reference both
built and natural environments. Massed
together and linked by votives, they too
become shrine-like.
Offering space for contemplation, my
works explore interiors, whether physical
or metaphorical. They ask to be looked
into, and for the viewer to look within
themselves.
Working from my home studio in
Canberra, I find that my teaching work
and design practice complement my artmaking.
Image: 1. Fran Romano, Labyrinthine (detail),
2021, handbuilt midfire ceramic + found
housebricks. Photo: Andrew Sikorski - Art Atelier.
127

Brenda Runnegar
Associate Member / Textiles
Biography
Brenda Runnegar’s forty odd year-long
practice is characterised by the use of
the surreal and dreamlike. Her exquisitely
detailed and quietly confronting work is
inspired by the natural world and explores
the complex vulnerabilities and strengths
of the human condition. She has worked
variously in the arts and crafts and began
as a Textile Artist in the 1970s whilst living
in London and studied at the Stanhope
Institute. She completed a Master of
Fine Arts by research in 2007 and has
worked professionally as an Educator,
Arts Administrator, Gallery Manager and
Project Manager in the private, public, and
not-for-profit sectors.
Artist Statement
Madam is from my latest series of art dolls
or Textile Sculptures, which have evolved
over the past four years. They are not
children’s toys and are made for display
purposes only. She is entirely handmade
and seated on a purpose-built stand.
She can also be hung on the wall and be
displayed in varying positions and places.
The theme ‘Transformation’ is evident as
she is entirely hand-stitched with the use
of recycled fabrics giving new life to old
treasures. Her personality is conveyed by
her drawn face, untethered hairstyle and
the use of imperfections – visible stiches,
vintage textiles, and treasures collected
from op shops.
Image: Brenda Runnegar, Madam, 2021, mixed
Media. Photo: Courtesy of the artist
129

Luna Ryan
Accredited Professional Member / Glass
Biography
Artist Statement
Ryan first visited Australia in 1981
from the Netherlands, during a journey
discovering parts of the world other than
Europe. In 1987 she enrolled at the then
Canberra School of Art Glass workshop,
headed by Klaus Moje. After gaining skills
in blowing glass and kiln casting, she
obtained her Bachelor of Arts in 1990, and
received the Australian National University
Award.
‘SHIFT’
Move in
Lock in
Move out
Lock out
Over the last few years Ryan has been
using recycled/found objects and recycled
televisions screens in her art works. She
designed and made the inaugural MAMA
(music act music awards), and has been
collaborating with various artists.
View in
SHIFT
View out
Over the last 7 years Ryan has been
working, teaching, guiding and mentoring
at the Canberra Glassworks. Ryan received
the Canberra Critic Circle award twice,
once alone and once together with Jock
Puautjimi and her works are in collection
of Canberra Museum and Gallery, with
some of the collaborative works with Jock
Puautjimi held in the National Gallery of
Australia.
Image: Luna Ryan, Shift, 2021, kiln cast crystal,
glass ad found mirror. Photo: Courtesy of the
artist
131

Julie Ryder
Accredited Professional Member / Textiles
Biography
Julie Ryder is a Canberra-based textile
designer who has gained national and
international recognition for her work. She
is a practicing textile artist, designer and
educator. Originally trained in science,
Julie retrained as a textile designer at
Melbourne Institute of Textiles, and
started her own design studio focusing
on designing and hand-printing fabrics for
home-wares, fashion and interiors.
Her hybrid practice combines her
knowledge of science with her love of
textiles, and she uses nature as both muse
and co-collaborator. Natural materials are
used for dyes and as materials for paperbased
artworks.
Artist Statement
I am a textile designer and artist who uses
natural dyeing, mordant printing, screenprinting
and embroidery as a language
on cloth to tell narratives about place
and people. Plants are collected from
specific sites at specific times of the year
to produce dyes that reflect the “terroir”
of the land. ‘The Pinnacle’ was made in
response to the theme of ‘transformation’
that was inspired by my bushwalks during
the time of COVID. Walking in nature
inspired me to think about the effects that
climate change is having on the landscape,
and also the populations of fauna and flora
in our territory, and nationwide. Droughts
get longer; species become extinct.
Locked in our homes, does anybody
notice?
Image: Julie Ryder, The Pinnacle, 2021, textiles.
Photo: Courtesy of the artist.
133

Tamara Schneider
Associate Member / Textiles
Biography
Tamara’s love of pattern design grew
while studying fashion at the Whitehouse
Institute in Sydney. Her passion for the
art of textile design eventually lead her
to studies at Melbourne’s RMIT, followed
by an internship at Scottish design firm
Timorous Beasties. In 2010, Tamara setup
Funky Wombat Textiles; her studio in
Collingwood from which she designed and
produced a range of soft furnishings prior
to establishing Tamara Design Co, her new
practice that she operates from Canberra.
The next stage see’s Tamara’s studio grow
in a different direction, expanding the
practice to make the most of the interior
architecture degree that she is studying
at the University of Canberra, making
it possible to fulfil her dream of design
control for both the art and the spaces on
which it is displayed.
While much of Tamara’s initial production
was centred around an old table that
she had converted into a screen printing
bench, the introduction of digital printing
into the industry allowed her to expand
her design ranges to include wallpaper
and fabrics that were previously out of
reach for a boutique studio.This opened
a broader range of opportunities, with
regular requests from clients for both
commercial and residential commissions.
Image: Tamara Schneider, Golden Gang Gang,
2021, hand drawn, photoshopped colour, digitally
printed velvet fabric. Photo: Courtesy of the artist
135

Robert Schwarz
Associate Member / Glass
Biography
Robert Schwartz is an American Glass
Artist, graduated from the Australian
National University School of Art in Design
with a Master of Visual Arts (Advanced)
in 2017.
His work explores how the materiality of
glass can be used to provoke wonderment
in the complexity and ingenuity of the
amalgamation of elements in even the
simplest of forms. His work identifies
and draws comparisons between various
elements of nature, design and process
to influence and guide his making and
aesthetic decisions - man-made and
natural phenomenon, glass blowing and
glass casting, multiple components and
interconnections.
Image: Robert Schwartz, Assembly, 2020. Photo:
Courtesy of the artist
136 137

Harriet Schwarzrock
Accredited Professional Member / Glass
Biography
As a visual artist interested in biological
systems and connectivity, Schwarzrock’s
practice has recently embraced creating
neon and plasma elements. This vibrant
form of illumination has developed in-step
with her material knowledge of glass.
Drawn to the ability of glass to contain
and give form to the invisible, her recent
explorations have embraced interactive
illumination to describe the subtle
electricity within our bodies.
Having graduated from Sydney College
of the Arts in the late 90’s, Schwarzrock
has exhibited extensively throughout
Australia and internationally. She has
refined her glassblowing expertise
through both participating and assisting
in masterclasses, being mentored by
esteemed friends and glass artists who
encouraged the development of both
her skills and the inspiration for her own
work. Her practice is currently based
in Queanbeyan, NSW, in a home studio
where she and her partner Matthew Curtis
run a hot glassblowing studio.
for prestigious residencies, including the
inaugural Canberra Glassworks Art Group
Fellowship in 2017; the AsiaLink Toyama
residency, Japan in 2018; and the Stephen
Procter Fellowship, Australian National
University in 2019. Recently in 2021 her
public artwork ‘murmuration’ secured the
ACT’s Pamille Berg Art in Architecture
award. Her illuminated plasma heart
installations have been exhibited at
Canberra Glassworks; Berengo studio,
Murano, Venice; and the National Portrait
Gallery in Canberra.
Schwarzrock’s practice draws upon cycles
of respiration and circulation, embodied
yet often invisible. She is magnetically
drawn to the material language and
plasticity of molten glass for its ability
to give form to these intangible cycles.
Fascinated by its ability to contain the
ethereal, while continuing to investigate
this exacting material, it has become
a catalyst for Schwarzrock to explore
interactive illumination.
Her work is widely collected, and she has
won various awards and been selected
Image: Harriet Schwarzrock, Heart from ‘Spaces
between movement and stillness’ installation,
2021, blown glass, plasma, electronics. Photo:
Courtesy of the artist.
139

Sam Sheppard
Associate Member / Wood
Biography
At Hopmans Furniture we are committed
to crafting work that has the quality
and style to last a life-time, producing
limited edition production furniture and
bespoke commissions to suit your needs.
If you want to get involved in creating an
heirloom piece of design for your space
get in contact with us.
Following a career transition to becoming
a Furniture Designer Maker, Sam studied
in the UK at world renowned furniture
school “Waters and Acland” in Lake
District. His style is heavily influenced by
various artistic movements of the 20th
century and is committed to crafting work
which stands out.
Artist Statement
The Flos Cabinet is an ode to the eucalypt
in all its forms. The soft visuals of the
emerging flowers contrast against the
hard angularity of the piece, and the tactile
nature of the upholstered panels adds to
this contrast. Hand selected sustainably
sourced Tasmanian Oak has been chosen
to highlight to natural pink tones often
present in this timber and complement the
blush of the blooms. The novel use of the
embroidery and the picture frame style
doors transform this decorative craft into
functional furniture.
Image: Sam Sheppard, Flos Cabinet, 2020,
Tasmanian oak, calico, embroidery thread, foam.
Photo: Craft ACT
141

David Suckling
Associate Member / Metals + Ceramics
Biography
David Suckling is the principal of Greybox
Design.
David began making copper vessels
after years of sculpting and a successful
ceramics practice.
The copper acts as a canvas for David’s
experiments in alchemy, which can
be uncontrollable and unpredictable.
The results are exciting, individually
handcrafted artworks. The vessels have
a history as off-cuts from plumbing used
in skyscrapers, often carrying evidence
of their past. Each patina builds upon
these origins using various techniques
to create colours and textures. This is
then sealed and preserved with a layer
of lacquer. Each object is unique and
can be combined with others to form a
still life, or used as a functional vessel. In
the past David supported his practice by
working in the salvage business and as a
bush regenerator. The move from the lush
coastal land of Berry NSW to the dramatic
dry landscape of Wamboin / Lake George
has had a powerful effect on his work and
also provided access to the discarded
industrial material of Canberra.
Image: David Suckling, Planter pot, 2021,
earthenware. Photo: Courtesy of the artist
143

Josephine Townsend
Associate Member / Ceramics
Biography
Josephine is a ceramic artist working
out of her home studio in Canberra. She
makes functional work, sculptural items
and jewellery. She is inspired by the way
that forms, shapes and patterns repeat
infinitely and evolve in nature. Tree roots
branch out in the same way that rivulets
run, flames flicker and branches divide.
Her forms are all made to be touched, with
surfaces colours and curves that invite
exploration.
One component of her work is printing
photographs on her work, she has done
tiled bathroom installations as well as
printing images on her functional ware.
She uses a combination of lithography,
decals, mono prints, glazes and
underglazes to layer colour, texture and
imagery in her work.
surface, colour and form that it offers as
well as the opportunities it offers to make
works of arts that can be used every day.
In 2014 Josephine was able to leave full
time employment and since then she has
been building her ceramics practice.
Artist Statement
This pure white textured porcelain ball,
resting in a stoneware dish, transforms
when lit up into a glowing cratered planet.
This work was inspired by the great toilet
paper panic of 2019 -20, when the rarest
and most sought after product was an
ordinary pack of toilet rolls. By layering this
very unglamorous product with pure liquid
porcelain this simple materials transform
into something truly precious.
Josephine has been engaged with
ceramics for more than 20 years. She
initially took some evening classes as
professional development for her work
as a high school/college art teacher. She
quickly fell in love with clay and the infinite
possibilities for experimentation with
Image: Josephine Townsend, Precious Lamp,
2021, porcelian, toilet paper, stoneware clay,
electrical fitting. Photo: Courtesy of the artist
145

Annie Trevillian
Accredited Professional Member / Textiles
Biography
Annie Trevillian is a Canberra based artist
and designer with strong technical skills
and experience in textiles design and
printing including digital technologies. She
has gained recognition for her expertise
and understanding of Canberra’s social
history through her practice and teaching.
She is well known for her motifs and the
use of layered colour and pattern on paper
and fabric. From magpies to treescapes,
Annie arranges each element into a
pattern. The printmaking processes allow
her to create endless combinations in her
artworks. Canberra Journalist Kerry-Anne
Cousins explains, “ … I always admire the
skilful way this artist can bring together
different shapes of objects and arrange
them into such harmonious designs …
“. Her artworks range from small scale (tea
towels) to large (digital prints placed within
architectural spaces) which provides her
audience with tactile works to hold or
simply sit within a space and contemplate
in comfort.
Image: Annie Trevillian, Canberra cloths. Photo:
Courtesy of the artist.
147

Monique Van Nieuwland
Accredited Professional Member / Textiles
Biography
Monique van Nieuwland learned to weave
in the Netherlands and bought her first
loom in the late 70s while she was working
on a commission weaving fabrics for
curtains and tablecloths. After migrating
to Australia in 1982, Monique studied
Visual Arts-Textiles at the Australian
National University School of Art and has
completed her masters degree.
Monique exhibits regularly, nationally
and internationally. Her work has been
selected three times for the Tamworth
Contemporary Textiles (biennial and
triennial) exhibition and she is representing
Australia at the 15th International Triennial
of Tapestry in Lodz, Poland.
Artist Statement
Any relationship exists in a state of flux.
This applies to our personal connections
but also our relationship with nature
and the environment. Common ground
needs to be found before renewal and
transformation can take place.
In this work I incorporated the texture
of the bark of Spotted Gum within a
Venn diagram. These diagrams were
a revelation to me as a child, as they
made the concept of shared experience
(common ground) so clearly visible.
Van Nieuwland has worked on many
commissions for private and public
places. In 2014 she worked for the movie
“Gods of Egypt” (Alex Proyas, release in
Feb 2016). She collaborated with costume
designer Liz Keogh to produced shawls
as well as cloth for cloaks and tunics for
characters played by Brenton Thwaites
and Geoffrey Rush. Van Nieuwland uses a
computerized Jacquard loom, which is the
latest state-of-the-art weave technology.
She is passionate about weaving, keeping
it current as an innovative form of
expression.
Image: Monique Van Nieuwland, Common
Ground, 2021. Photo: Craft ACT
149

Jo Victoria
Associate Member / Ceramics
Biography
Jo Victoria is a Canberra based ceramic
artist with a love of the ocean. Her works
are inspired by cultural and natural
landscapes and ocean shores. She mixes
organic materials with porcelain slips to
create delicate, translucent, often haunting
works that speak of deep time and the
precariousness of life on earth.
Jo completed her Master of Visual Arts
degree at the ANU School of Art in 2016
and has exhibited in group and solo shows
in the ACT and region, the South Coast
and in Denmark.
Artist Statement
My art practice explores ideas of place
and focuses on the influence of living
close to nature. In this work I have
collected natural organic objects and
dipped them in porcelain slip to create
beautifully delicate artworks that capture
the fragility of the networks of fungi and
mycelium that exist mostly unseen in our
environment. Unglazed porcelain captures
essential qualities of fragility, strength and
vulnerability. These porcelain sculptural
works feel fossil like in the way that they
capture the life essence of once living
things in this environment.
Image: Jo Victoria, Mycelium I, 2021. Porcelian.
Photo: Courtesy of the artist
150 151

Susan Wiscombe
Associate Member / Glass
Biography
I was born and spent my younger years
in Tasmania. I grew up amongst a rugged
landscape, where the rhythms of life are
omnipresent. The ebb and flow of warmth
and coolness, light and darkness maintain
equilibrium in all living things.
My aim is to evoke atmosphere, mysticism
and elusiveness while referencing the
natural phenomena of space and light.
Due to the duplicitous qualities of glass, it
is my material of choice. Like the land and
sea scapes of this distant south island,
glass can be beautiful yet treacherous and
has qualities of strength and yet fragile to
human intervention.
Through my art practice I like to delve into
philosophical juxtapositions found in the
natural world by creating works that drift
between an aesthetic that is suggestive
of a mood or emotion and forms that may
be imaginary or based on known, but not
always recognised, natural structures. In
turn this leads to the creation of curious
and at times whimsical works.
Artist Statement
Atmospheric Nuances 4
I seek to produce works that evoke a
sense of atmosphere and mysticism, that
are elusive and ethereal, while referencing
natural phenomena of space and light.
I do this as a way as a way of offering
distraction for the viewer from earth
bound worries and concerns. I invite
the viewer to engage with my work on
several levels. Where suggestive shapes
float against an opaque background and
encourage the mind to play, as it might,
when discerning familiar shapes in clouds,
or to merely rest the eye on their gentle
form and subtlety of colour.
I apply a range of mark making techniques
to the surface of the glass that is then cold
worked to create a bisque like finish. I have
transformed the glass by removing the
distraction of its natural ability to reflect
light. Rather, I want the glass to absorb
light, to create its own internal energy. This
gives a surface that sensually responds to
light in a soft a subtle way.
Currently undertaking Honours in Visual
Art at the Australian National University
Image: Susan Wiscombe, Atmospheric Nuances,
2019. Sheet glass, glass powders, enamels.
Photo: Geoff Comfort.
152 153

Hiroshi Yamaguchi
Accredited Professional Member / Wood
Biography
KOITOYA designs and makes wooden
craft and furniture and runs woodwork
courses based on traditional Japanese
skills and ideas. Hiroshi Yamaguchi, the
founder, gained his experience and skills in
a traditional, private school in Takayama,
Japan, a town famous for its carpentry
tradition. After 17 years designing, creating
and teaching craft and furniture making
in Japan, he moved to Canberra in 2012
with his family and established KOITOYA
in 2015.
Artist Statement
Ari Stool
Name of the Ari Stool came from
Japanese joinery, Sliding dovetail.
I have made a transformation to this stool
by adding significant change in the details.
The curved rail and the slit, different parts
responding each other, tempting to listen
to their conversation.
Image: Hiroshi Yamaguchi, Ari Stool, 2021.
Blackwood. Photo: 365 Photography
154 155

Melinda Young
Associate Member / Metals & Textiles
Biography
Melinda Young is a visual artist &
craftsperson whose work spans jewellery,
textiles, installation & interactive public art
projects. She has a Master of Visual Arts
from Sydney College of the Arts and is
currently undertaking a cross-disciplinary
PHD in Human Geography and Creative
Arts at the University of Wollongong.
Melinda has exhibited extensively in
Australia and overseas since 1997, recent
exhibitions include isolate/make: Creative
Resilience in a Pandemic at Australian
Design Centre, Sydney & The Waterhouse
Natural Science Art Prize at the South
Australian Museum. Her work is held
in public collections in Australia and
Norway has been included in numerous
publications. In addition to her jewellery
practice Melinda engages in work as
an educator, curator and writer, she is
currently an Associate Lecturer at UNSW
Faculty of Art, Design & Architecture.
Artist Statement
Melinda Young, Amulets for Covid
Learning Situations (A Pair of Neckpieces);
2021, 24ct Gold, fine silver, HDPE plastic
packaging (laundry detergent, texta lids).
A pair of amuletic neckpieces made for my
son and I to transform our experiences of
learning together at home. We have found
ourselves in new places for learning (and
teaching) over the past 18 months. This
work reminds us to be gentle with each
other and to honour the shared time and
space as precious rather than pernicious.
The materials invite a consideration
of value whilst reflecting the mingled
tensions of cleanliness, transformed
educational, domestic and professional
spaces in the Covid era.
Image: Melinda Young, Amulets for Covid
Learning Situations, 2021. 24ct Gold, silver, HDPE
plastic packaging. Photo: Courtesy of the artist
156 157

Marissa Ziesing
Accredited Professional Member / Metals
Biography
Australian gold and silversmith, Marissa
Ziesing, graduated with a Bachelor of
Visual Arts (Jewellery & Metal) from the
University of South Australia (Harry P. Gill
Medal and University Medal) and Diploma
(Jewellery & Object Design) from Enmore
Design Centre,Sydney.
Marissa has undertaken residencies
and mentorships in Australia, USA and
UK, training under renowned gold and
silversmiths. She has been the recipient
of various grants and awards. Including
The Helpmann Academy Fellowship and
Arts South Australia’s Project Grant for
‘Bishopsland Retrospective Exhibition’
in the UK where she was awarded ‘Arts
Society Award’ and gained international
recognition, exhibiting at The Ashmolean
Museum, Oxford, London’s The
Goldsmiths’ Company and Netherland’s
Zilver Museum.
craft of gold and silversmithing is a strong
motivation of her practice.
Marissa’s work focuses on craftsmanship
and function in jewellery and objects
that explore the discourse of the human
relationship with form, underpinned by
her Australian upbringing. Her approach
further investigates the dialogue that
occurs between the maker and the
material.
Artist Statement
Each piece responds to the current climate
drawing from post modernist architectural
ideologies, Brutalist movement, rejecting
mass production. The pieces celebrate;
material; making process; importantly
maintaining both form and function.
Her work is shown regularly across
Australia, the UK and most recently
Europe. Maintaining the lineage of the
Image: Marissa Ziesing, Brutal Affinity neck
piece, sterling silver. Photo: Craft ACT
158 159