The Journal of Australian Ceramics (JAC) is published by The Australian Ceramics Association with the aim being to feature and promote professional ceramic artists at all levels of experience, to support writers in the field of ceramics, and to serve as a historical record of Australian ceramics. We seek to inspire, educate, address current issues, expose readers to new points of view and help readers to feel connected to the broader ceramics community. The JAC draws on written content from ceramicists and potters, professional writers, curators, educators, gallery owners, collectors and reviewers. The JAC is published three times per year – 1 April, 17 July and 20 November. PRINT SUBSCRIPTIONS Australia (inc. GST) 3 issues AU $60 6 issues AU $115 New Zealand 3 issues AU $105 6 issues AU $200 Overseas 3 issues AU $138 6 issues AU $270 SUBSCRIBE HERE australianceramics.com DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTIONS shop.exacteditions.com/au/thejournal-of-australian-ceramics
SUBMISSION DEADLINE 2 months prior to publication PUBLICATION DATES VOL 62 NO 2 17 July 2023 SO HOT RIGHT NOW VOL 62 NO 3 20 November 2023 REMEDY & REPAIR PUBLISHER The Australian Ceramics Association EDITORS Montessa Maack Bridie Moran E: jac@australianceramics.com The Editors thank the Editorial Advisory Group for their support
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CONTENTS
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UPFRONT
FOCUS: POTTERS’ RECIPES
PEOPLE & PLACES
6 Editorial
20 Affect of Intention by Angie Talleyrand
56 When The Inside Is Outside And Under Is Above by Jason Lim
7 Vale Les Blakebrough 12 In The Spotlight
26 The Perfect Cup of Tea? Minna Graham and Ruby Yu-Lu Yeh
16 Shards 32 Dan Elborne and Sandy Pottinger 36 Kevin Boyd on Chun Glaze 42 Steve Williams and Nick Gardner 48 But First We Eat Jia Jia Chen and Claire Lehmann
Front cover: Ilona Topolcsanyi, process image: cones pre-firing, 2022 Back cover: Ilona Topolcsanyi, 2022
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61 Summerholm Studio by Kirsti Falconer, Rora and Indiah Elwell 65 Clay & Spirit: Peter Thompson A review by Owen Rye
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ART & OBJECTS
MATERIALS & PROCESS
COMMUNITY & CONVERSATION
68 A Singular Artist: Marea Gazzard by Hannah Kothe
90 No Ingredients To Waste Claire Ellis and Rob Linigen
118 Emina Adriaans, ACT
74 SAM Indigenous Ceramic Award
97 Whose Treasure We Hold by Ilona Topolcsanyi
122 Yarrenyty Arltere by Sophie Wallace, NT
77 Aleisa Miksad by Caroline Esbenshade
101 Coil and Throw in Western Australia by Bernard Kerr
124 Kalyanii Holden, QLD
108 Glaze on Glaze by Ian Clare
128 Viv Cutbush, TAS
120 Marianna Ebersoll, NSW
126 Alex Linden, SA
82 Potters’ Marks
WEDGE 83 Cultural Appreciation or Appropriation? by Ruby Yu-Lu Yeh
112 Unusual Ingredients Jean McMaster Sandra Bowkett Georgia Stevenson and Geoff Thomas
130 Minaal Lawn on Dean Smith, VIC 132 Cat Conner, WA 134 ACOS 2022 Wrap Up
PROMOTION 84 The Pug Mill Celebrating 50 Years
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UPFRONT Bridie Moran (left) and Montessa Maack (right) in the TACA office, Alexandria NSW Photo: Georgie Avis
EDITORIAL Hello! It is exciting and a great privilege to be writing to you here for the first time as the new editorial team steering The Journal of Australian Ceramics, a Journal that really belongs to all of us. We are Montessa Maack, a potter, potterer and word enthusiast based on Gundungurra / Wodi Wodi lands, and Bridie Moran, a researcher, arts manager and curator, based on Awabakal lands. You’ll likely know of us, Bridie in her previous role as Editorial Assistant on The Journal, and Montessa in her previous work with TACA. We look forward to connecting with you through these pages. As this issue developed, an unintended theme of pairs began to emerge. There are many instances of groups of two – two ‘perfect cups’ of tea, two exhibitions from Shepparton Art Museum, and multiple conversations and collaborations between pairs – including Dan Elborne and Sandy Pottinger talking about mentoring and growth, Claire Ellis and Rob Linigen discussing materials, Jia Jia Chen and Claire Lehmann sharing their creative partnership and a shared recipe, and potter Steve Williams collaborating with chef Nick Gardner. We step into big shoes with the departure of previous Editor Vicki Grima, and we would also like to acknowledge the significant quiet contribution of our previous proofreader Suzanne Dean over many years. There is a great sense of continuity in this moment, with respect for both the past and the future – another pair. According to Wikipedia, a dialectic is a discourse between two (or more) people holding different points of view about a subject but wishing to establish ‘truth’. It may be contrasted with argument that aims to dispute another’s argument (rather than searching for truth), and the didactic method, wherein one side of the conversation teaches the other. It is in this dialectic spirit that we commence together as new Editors within our broad, dynamic and thoughtful Australian ceramics community. For this issue’s theme of POTTERS’ RECIPES we have considered recipes in various ways – in glaze formulation, in the contents which fill our handmade vessels, as a bringing of things together, be they people, objects, or ideas. We have found these stories show the joy, benefit, potential and interest that can be found working in twos and we hope you find them, and the rest of this issue equally inspiring. We’d also love to see any potters’ recipes that you try out – tag us! @australianceramics
Montessa Maack and Bridie Moran, Co-Editors
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UPFRONT
IN THE SPOTLIGHT 1 Bev Hogg, Tracing the wind, 2023, clay, coloured engobes and natural sticks, h.70cm; photo: Brenton McGeachie 2 Mel Robson, Territory, 2023, h.17cm, w.13cm, d.10cm, wheelthrown porcelain with screen prints and decals; photo: artist Boundaries, Mel Robson, Bev Hogg and Julie Ryder, 23 March – 13 May 2023 at Craft ACT – showcases the outcomes of the 2022 Arts ACT Artist in Residence program in collaboration with Parks ACT and the National Library of Australia. 3 Peggy Griffiths, Gerdewoon, 2022, slipcast porcelain h.20cm, w.10cm; photo: courtesy Waringarri Aboriginal Arts WA 4 Peter Johnson, Small Bowls 2022, terracotta, engobe slips and washes, metallic oxides and glazes, h.11cm, w.8cm Photo: Michael Kluvanek Beauty and Beasts exhibition, The Main Gallery SA, February 2023 5 Kerry Holland, A dappled grounding, 2023, reduction fired to cone 6; photo: Tony Webdale Courtesy Makers Gallery QLD
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1 1 Sarah Muir-Smith, Industrial Water Stone, Medicine Cabinet Wall Hangings, Haemorrhoid Vase, Nang Brick & Toothpaste Vase, 2022, cement, rice straw ash, feldspar, rusty nitrous oxide canister solution, scoria, Boon Wurrung clay (foraged in Yarraville), copper oxide, Epsom salts, Colgate extra-whitening toothpaste, La Roche Posay sunscreen, Rennies antacids, oxide slip, Anusol haemorrhoid suppositories embedded in Milk of Magnesia (laxative) tin glaze on stoneware clays, dimensions variable, tallest h.17.5cm, In Plain Sight exhibition, December 2022, Louis Joel Gallery VIC; photo: Tatanja Ross 2 Rona Panangka Rubuntja, Tray Load of Wood from 5 Mile, handbuilt terracotta and underglaze, h.29cm, d.16cm; from Down the road from Ntaria exhibition, November – December 2022 at Sabbia Gallery NSW; photo: courtesy Sabbia Gallery These works tell the story of me and my family Rubuntja, getting together in our beat-up Toyotas and getting out on the road. Cars are everywhere out here in Ntaria, they’re a huge part of our community life. 3 Casey Chen, Big Robot 4, 2022, glazed porcelain, ceramic colourants, enamels and gold lustre, h.35.5cm, w.15.5cm from Bombs Away exhibition, December 2022, at N.Smith Gallery NSW; photo: Robin Hearfield 4 John Daly, reCLAYm Luminaire III, small luminaire with orange and dark copper glaze decoration and textured interior h.20cm, d.4.5cm; from reCLAYm exhibition, January – March 2023 at Bathurst Regional Art Gallery NSW; photo: artist
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UPFRONT
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IN THE SPOTLIGHT 2 1 Philomena Yeatman looking into her work 2 Philomena Yeatman, Woven Knowledge, finalist in the 2022 Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards (Telstra NATSIAA); photos: Simone Arnol, courtesy Yarrabah Arts & Cultural Precinct QLD & Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory 3 Holly Macdonald, Feeling Objects, an evolving installation of small scale ceramic sculptures and wall works concerned with the emotive language of objects, handbuilt mid-fire porcelain, ceramic stain, terracotta, glaze, ceramic dimensions variable, light boxes measure h.20.5cm, w.29.5cm, d.9.5cm December 2022 – February 2023 at mima / Lake Macquarie Multi-Arts Pavilion, NSW; photos: Wanagi Zable-Andrews 4 Karen Black gentle pulse exhibition installation view December 2022 Photo: Mark Pokorny, courtesy Sullivan + Strumpf NSW
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1-2 Jayanto Tan A Little Pot-luck Party Pai Ti Kong With The Ghosts (DoubleHappiness), installation view December 2022 – March 2023 Maitland Regional Art Gallery NSW Photos: Leighsa Cox 3 James Lemon, Dining Set Installation, a 60 person table-setting commission (100 plates and serving platters) for the Powerhouse Museum NSW, 2022, 23cm diameter ceramic plates and gold; photo: courtesy artist 4-7 Kenny Pittock, Bubble’O Jill, Fidler, Original Sunny-boy & Rainbow Paddlepop from 100 Australian Ice-creams, created for the Australiana exhibition at Bendigo Art Gallery VIC 18 March – 25 June 2023, acrylic on ceramic, life (ice-cream) size installation dimensions variable Photos: artist
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UPFRONT
REQUEST FOR FIRING OPPORTUNITIES FROM BLAK DESIGN, NAARM The Blak Design program is run by the Koorie Heritage Trust in Naarm. The program supports First Nations artists who reside in Victoria through a targeted professional development and mentoring program whilst learning new skills within a creative discipline. In 2023, the focus is ceramics. The Blak designers are looking for spaces closer to their areas for them to fire. Please contact Sharn Geary sgeary@koorieheritagetrust.com if you are located in or near the following areas and can offer firing services between April and July 2023: REGIONAL: Bendigo, Swan Hill, Churchill OUTER METRO: Diamond Creek, Diggers Rest METRO: Hawthorn, Ascot Vale, Reservoir
SHARDS THE NAKED & NUDE ART PRIZE The Naked & Nude Art Prize (previously the Manning Art Prize: Naked & Nude) is open to artists in a variety of media, including ceramics. For 2023, the Major Prize is $35,000 and the Val Good People’s Choice Prize is $2000. The Friends of the Manning Regional Art Gallery acquire the Major Prize artwork and donate it to the Manning Regional Art Gallery’s permanent collection. Entries close 23 June 2023. friendsmanningvalley.com.au/ nakedandnude-art-prize
GOETHE INSTITUTE VISUAL ARTS PROJECT FUND Applications are open for the Visual Arts Project Fund, which provides financial support for the development of exhibitions and discussion-based formats involving collaborative international working processes. Project participants work together on an equal footing to create something substantively new across national borders. Applications are open for professional artists, curators and people working in visual art, architecture, design or art education. The maximum amount of funding available is €25,000. The application deadline for projects starting in 2024 is 13 October 2023, 3pm (Central European Time). goethe.de/en/kul/foe/prj.html
MESSAGE FROM INCOMING TACA CEO DEBBIE PRYOR The Australian Ceramics Association has long been a place for sharing knowledge, building community, and providing professional development opportunities for makers. I look forward to developing projects with, and for the Australian ceramics community. Sincere thanks go out to Vicki Grima whose dedication over almost two decades has contributed monumentally to the Australian ceramics ecosystem, and created a solid platform to build upon. As incoming Co-Editors of The Journal of Australian Ceramics, Bridie Moran and Montessa Maack have a deep community understanding and clear vision. I look forward to their stewardship of The Journal. Photo: Lana Adams
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SHARDS 11TH PALMER SCULPTURE BIENNIAL Expressions of Interest to participate in the 11th Palmer Sculpture Biennial are now open. The Biennial exhibition will be open for four weeks in March/April 2024, with around 24 artists selected to participate from South Australia, interstate and overseas, including an invited senior artist and two emerging artists. Expressions of Interest are required by Thursday 1 June 2023. Full details at: palmersculpturebiennial.org/b-expressions-of-interest-for-the-2024-biennial
13TH INTERNATIONAL CERAMICS COMPETITION MINO, JAPAN Applications are open now until 31 January 2024 for the 13th International Ceramics Competition in Mino, Japan. Approximately 200 excellent works selected from the competition will be exhibited at Ceramics Park MINO in Tajimi City in October – November 2024. Applications should address the theme ‘The Future of Ceramics’ and prizes will be awarded across ceramic art and ceramic design categories. For information on how to apply: icfmino.com/english/icc/compe.php
MILTON MOON: CRAFTING MODERNISM Milton Moon: Crafting modernism, 6 May – 6 August 2023 at the Art Gallery of South Australia. An exhibition of Moon’s 60-year practice in ceramics situated within the wider story of Australian art. This exhibition celebrates his highly original and painterly approach to ceramics and examines the influence of Australian modernism and Japanese art on his work, as well as introducing his lesser-known work in painting and drawing. agsa.sa.gov.au/whats-on/ exhibitions/milton-mooncrafting-modernism
CORRECTIONS The caption that appeared on page 5 of Vol. 61, No. 3 of The Journal of Australian Ceramics noted incorrect, approximate dimensions for the work pictured on the cover. The correct details are: Glenn Barkley, Wall Vase for Jonathan Leak, 2022 h.368cm, w.125cm; courtesy artist and Sullivan & Strumpf; photo: Anson Smart, courtesy Ace Hotel Sydney. On page 13 of Vol. 61, No. 3 of The Journal of Australian Ceramics, the judging panel listed for the 2022 Clunes Award was incorrect. The 2022 Clunes Award was judged by Prue Venables, Andrea Barker and Neville French.
The work of Milton Moon, c. 1978 Photo: courtesy Art Gallery of South Australia
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FOCUS: POTTERS’ RECIPES 20 AFFECT OF INTENTION by Angie Talleyrand 26 THE PERFECT CUP OF TEA? Minna Graham and Ruby Yu-Lu Yeh 32 RECIPE FOR GROWTH Dan Elborne and Sandy Pottinger 36 THE CONNECTIONS OF A GLAZE RECIPE by Kevin Boyd 42 AN EDIBLE EXHIBITION by Bridie Moran, with Steve Williams and Nick Gardner 48 BUT FIRST WE EAT, THEN WE DO EVERYTHING ELSE by Jia Jia Chen and Claire Lehmann
Image: Angie Talleyrand, Baroque not baroque Image concept and photo: Callie Marshall Stylist: Ani Wilson
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Ruby Yu-Lu Yeh’s perfect cup of tea: To give a little background, in 2020 I started learning 茶道 (Chado; Japanese tea ceremony) with Sensei Tomoko (Soho) White from the 裏千家 (Urasenke) tea school; tea ceremony is an art form that requires weekly lessons and decades of practice to master. I have come to understand what it means to have a 抹茶茶碗 (matcha chawan; ceremonial tea bowl). Just as learning never ends, there is perhaps no such thing as the ‘perfect’ matcha chawan, but I feel I’m getting closer with each one I make. For everyday use, any bowl can be used for making tea, thus making it a chawan (literally, ‘tea bowl’). However, there are considerations when it comes to ceremonial matcha chawan: size and shape, weight and balance, glaze and texture, as well as the maker’s artistic expression. When it’s for ceremonial purposes, the anatomy of a tea bowl has quite specific requirements.1
Ruby Yu-Lu Yeh, Tea Bowl, 2022, handcarved, 1222ºC, h.8cm, w.12cm, d.11.5cm; photo: Louis Lim
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ART & OBJECTS
National Archives of Australia Australian News and Information Bureau, Canberra - NAA: A6135 K18/11/71/22, Art - Pottery Mrs Marea Gazzard, 1971 Image: from the collection of the National Archives of Australia
A SINGULAR ARTIST MAREA GAZZARD IN THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY ART COLLECTION, CHAU CHAK WING MUSEUM by Hannah Kothe
The University of Sydney Art Collection at the Chau Chak Wing Museum holds a single work by the modernist artist Marea Gazzard (1928-2013). Described in the collection records as a ceramic floor pot, the imposing 1970 stoneware work clearly finds its place in Gazzard’s oeuvre as part of the Shield series she developed and refined from 1966 onwards. Donated to the University in 2018 by the former head of the Nicholson Museum and Professor of Classical Archaeology, Alexander Cambitoglou (1922-2019), the work provides a window into post-war Australian ceramics and Gazzard’s practice. Linkages between Gazzard and Cambitoglou paint a picture of Sydney’s cultural landscape throughout the 1960s and 1970s, and speak to the role of this new Chau Chak Wing Museum. Gazzard was an artist defined by her unwavering interest in form as a universal language. Driven by a pursuit of excellence, she was inspired by the forms she encountered both in nature and in museum collections around the world. Born in 1928 to a Scottish mother and a Greek father, and raised between Sydney, Brisbane and Coffs Harbour, Gazzard trained in ceramics from 19531954 at East Sydney Technical College (now the National Art School), and between 1956-1957 at London Central School of Arts and Crafts.1 Gazzard and her husband Don Gazzard (an architect who worked alongside Harry Seidler) left Australia in 1955 in search of greater exposure to modernist ideas developing in art and architecture at the time. They spent four years abroad – living in London, travelling through
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WESTERN EDGE COIL AND THROW IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA by Bernard Kerr
Like many people, one of my first experiences with clay was constructing a coil pot in primary school. It wasn’t as easy as it looked. Now many years and pots later, I employ the technique of coiling in combination with the speed and precision of the potter’s wheel and a gas torch. Coiling, throwing and drying clay in this way allows me to construct vessels of a far greater height and consistency than I could achieve throwing directly on the wheel head. Using coils of clay to construct ceramic vessels is one of the oldest ceramic fabrication methods, seemingly ubiquitous amongst all civilisations with a ceramic tradition. In most agricultural societies, large-scale ceramic vessels were created in order to store food and drink. Coils paddled rhythmically using the circular motion of a turntable to develop form and symmetry – the production of ceramic storage vessels has been a vitally important human activity.
Bela Kotai, Feng Three, 2006, coil and throw stoneware form with added extrusions, fired to 1300°C, h.110cm, w.45cm; photo: artist
In contemporary times, when combined with the control afforded by the electric potter’s wheel and speed drying using a gas torch or heat gun, it is possible to construct a very large pot using coils in less than a day.
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