2024 Emerging Contemporaries Exhibition Catalogue

Making Connections
Exhibition Essay
Emerging from the shadow of the pandemic
years, 2024’s crop of artists, designers and
makers represents a return to connection,
evidenced by a focus on tactility,
communication, and co-creation. What we
haven’t returned to is a world we recognise, and
the artists selected for this exhibition utilise a
variety of strategies, techniques and
craftsmanship to grapple with issues both
timeless and timely.
What very much unifies the works in Emerging
Contemporaries is excellence in making. The
restoration of intensive studio practice in art and
design schools can be seen in the seamless
combination of mixed woods and metal in the
modular sofa/chaise/chair construction of
Claudia Vogel. Matt Walker’s Liquor Locker, a
wooden drinks cabinet for the inebriated, has
had its harsh edges removed ‘for the safety of the
user’. One can imagine that though its
inspirations are hot dogs and popsicle sticks, it is
a serious piece of work. Similarly, I can
appreciate the precision and detail of Kate
Shaw’s combination watercolour and
screenprinted drawings. She works hard to
create visual storytelling told through a careful,
measured approach to abstract composition.
Such labour can also help to expose hidden
narratives. The act of stitching provides the
somewhat pixelated effect of Adelaide Butler’s
delicate portraits of Queen Elizabeth I, among
other women, in the act of embroidery. These are
in part products of digital fabrication; yet they
are very pointed in their depiction of the process
of the handmade. Intensive layered monoprints
are worked and reworked to expose the forts of
Justin Wasserman’s imagination.
Touch is very much on the agenda of the ceramic
works represented in this exhibition, whether
that is Jacky Lo’s kintsugi renewal of a broken
cup, Jacqui Keough’s Japanese wave-textured
vases, or Alicia Cox’s dysfunctional domestic
ware, glazed in high relief so as to render them
possibly useless. They tell us stories about
objects in our daily rituals, passions and
relationships.
A tactile, contoured surface can also be found on
Reefinity, the unglazed clay works of Beth
O’Sullivan. This now familiar visual language is
an outcome of the process of 3D printing. Whilst
the technique of printing ceramics has an
inherent porosity, this property has been used
as an advantage. Her innovative project
communicates beyond the creative sphere to a
decidedly different audience--endangered coral,
coral polyps and the marine biologists charged
with preserving them.
The aspect of connection within and beyond the
traditional arts audience leads into elements of
co-creation at the core of the practices of Kirilly
Jordan and Alexander Sarsfield. Each works
within an indigenous textile language to reach
different communities. For Sarsfield, the
sharing of his Maori culture through weaving a
fibre vessel and the conversation that takes
place in that process is an exchange, and one in
which he hasn’t always chosen easy partners
with whom to do so. I see his project as one of
taking risks for the sake of renewing and
rebuilding relationships, an artistic model for
reconciliation. Meanwhile, Jordan’s ongoing
project to share transcultural weaving holds a
multitude of voices and hands in the making of
woven sculptural forms. This act of collective
making decentres authorship, highlights
ingenuity and celebrates community.
These artists are exploring the vital edges of
materials and meaning; their works underscore
the ongoing relevance of craft and design in the
contemporary world. I hope that this promising
array of approaches is indicative of the creative
practice to come from these emerging voices.
Jefferey Sarmiento