2022 Robert Foster F!NK National Metal Prize

Lindy McSwan | To Cart Carry Convey | 2022
The mild steel vessel, often in combination
with other materials, has been the foundation
of my practice since my undergraduate
studies in gold and silversmithing. More
recently I have developed a deeper material
focus looking to material properties, qualities,
and transformation in the life cycle of
steel. This begins with iron ore, the primary
material essential to iron and steelmaking.
Experimenting with different methods of using
iron ore, the most effective to date has been
grinding the material by hand and blending
it with vitreous enamel, then applying to the
surface of these vessels before firing in a kiln.
In this body of work the vessel forms
respond to my fieldtrips to the Whyalla and
Port Kembla steelworks. The steelworks are
effectively an extensive system of vessels
and structures, mostly made of steel, that
transport, store, and process material in the
production of iron and steel. Kilometres of rail
networks, carriages, monumental industrial
vessels, conveyors, furnaces, cavernous,
corrugated steel sheds and forming systems,
empty, fill, move, transform, and contain vast
quantities of material in a continuous process
of steelmaking. The title given to this work
reflects on this experience as well as notions
of containment embodied in the vessel more
broadly.