PIPPIN DRYSDALE
THE PATTERNING OF LIGHT
Breakaway Series III
THE PATTERNING OF LIGHT; Breakaway Series III
Artist’s Statement
“I have lived and worked in Fremantle, Western Australia, for over four decades. My ceramics are inspired by my native landscape.
“Initially employing a painterly approach, my work evolved towards a more refined expressionist/impressionist aesthetic, as I became increasingly intrigued by my emotional response to the landscape. This included its mood, its seasons, the weather and influences of time of day and how they, in turn, influence the sky, the water and the land.
“In 2021 this focus has changed. Isolation during the pandemic certainly had a huge effect; encouraging me to focus inwardly and consider what was really important to me. I documented my reflections: ‘the subtleties of the small and wonderful’.
“At this scale I am intrigued by the way light bounces and bends with the breeze on the water; the iridescence of fish; the glisten of frogs; the dew on the leaves and rocks. For this Series, therefore, the shapes and groupings of the vessels, the colour palette, and the patina on the surfaces have all been designed to explore the theme. There is a deliberatively meditative quality to the works.”
Breakaway Series; Comb-crested Jacana, 2021
A set of seven porcelain sculptures
Made by the artist in Western Australia
Height 16cm (6 1/4")
Breakaway Series; Ochre Country I, 2021
Porcelain vessel
Made by the artist in Western Australia
Height 21cm (8 1/4")
Diameter 16cm (6 1/4")
Breakaway Series; Ochre Country, 2021
A set of six porcelain sculptures
Made by the artist in Western Australia
Height 30cm (11 3/4")
Made by the artist in Western Australia
Height 31cm (12 1/4")
Diameter 20cm (7 7/8")
Breakaway Series; Ochre Country III,
Ochre Country, Breakaway Series, 2021
A set of seven porcelain sculptures
Made by the artist in Western Australia
Height 25.5cm (10")
PIPPIN DRYSDALE
Born 1943, Melbourne,Australia
As an artist, I have never wanted to be in the safe zone. Challenges, even when tinged with fear and trepidation, have facilitated and strengthened my artistic practice.
Pippin Drysdale is an acclaimed Australian ceramic artist whose international profile has seen her art works represented in museums, galleries and private collections worldwide.
She has always seen the form as a three dimensional canvas, and to that extent, the form dictates the surface. It is the translation of her intuitive response that she has to her surroundings and her experiences that makes her work so compelling.
Retrospectively, one can see each phase of her creative process and its inspiration, but it is the Australian landscape that is the dominant influence in her work.
Through her lavish use of colour and lustres and her precision of line, she has captured the minutiae of mapping a vast and varied landscape.
