ANNEMIEKE MULDERS

Nature supports humanity’s very existence. It provides the essentials of life and also the wealth of materials that we use for energy and technology development. Nature underpins our technological culture, a culture which ironically is pushing the natural world to its limits.

It is time for humanity to support nature. To cherish its resources and cultivate its flora and fauna. To build a circular economy where culture supports nature and nature support culture.

Here I explore the borders and shared space of culture and nature with a series of sculptural vessels. My ceramic process is one of destruction and rebuilding guiding the narration of the series and allowing new forms to evolve. The process is inherently circular navigating the tension between the orderly and regular (culture) and the organic and messy (nature). The resulting ceramic vessels are dynamic and resemble growth alike a forest.

My thoughts about a future circular economy are visualised using the technological construct, the artificial intelligence system DALL-E. Through creation of these images I hope to show the strengths and limitations of both AI and human civilisation, challenging viewers to contemplate ways we can strive for a more harmonious balance between nature and culture. Together we create a narrative that is simultaneously fragile, robust, complex and simple.

I invite the viewer to contemplate this work from a distance and to examen its surface and imagery from close by. I believe that by bringing attention to how nature and culture are intertwined we can begin to envision a more sustainable future for ourselves and the earth.

Annemieke Mulders studied in the Netherlands and worked as a scientist in various countries while continually taking art evening classes. Her ceramic career started ten years ago in Perth. She makes functional ware with forms that follow the plastic distortion of the clay and vibrant glazes that capture the beauty of the Australian landscape. Recently she repurposes plaster moulds to create sculptural vessels. Annemieke regularly exhibits nationally.

Annemieke is driven by a need to understand the intricacies of world. In the past, this motivated her scientific research, now it inspires her ceramic art practice. She explores the tension between the orderly and the regular; the chaotic and the extreme. Annemieke seeks to create something meaningful by combining both.

Her process is one of destruction and rebuilding – textures and forms are made through dividing, smashing and chiselling, followed by a careful rearranging and reassembly. This method brings a radical freedom and breaks away from conventional design elements. The emerging forms are simultaneously fragile, robust, complex and simple and evoke contemplation.

Annemieke Mulders Intertwined

2023

Porcelain, glaze, iron oxide