SIXTY: The Journal of Australian Ceramics 60th Anniversary

Glenn Barkley (NSW) is an artist, writer, curator and gardener. His work draws upon the history of ceramics, popular song, the garden and conversations about art and the internet.

"I came to ceramics late in my career and after over twenty years of curating. I always had an interest in pottery as a curator, a collector and due to the influence of my mother-in-law, Lyn Havilah, who was a production potter. She always had TACA journals laying around that I used to read. I’m going to make a plinth of these journals as they are kind of the bedrock of mine, and many others practice, and keeps you propped up and supported to a certain extent".

Glenn Barkley @glennbarkley

Kirsten Coelho (SA) works in porcelain creating functional forms and vessels of other-worldly perfection that fuse the formal with the abstract.

"My ceramics practice focuses on the exploration and reinterpretation of utilitarian ceramics, glass and metal wares. Many pieces are made in white porcelain, some with an added iron rim - suggesting an everyday metal object whilst being made in a material like porcelain that has such a rich history of desire and commodity. This can create juxtaposition between the precious and the commonplace."

Kirsten Coelho @kirsten_coelho_

An acclaimed international artist and master of Australian craft, Pippin Drysdale's career as a ceramic artist spans more than 45 years. Her passion for the craft merges with a love of the landscape, which has travelled across continents and in most recent years has focused on the vivid desert landscapes of Australia. Her works evoke a timeless and breathtaking sense of space and place within finely crafted porcelain vessels, narrating the mesmerising vastness of colour experienced in the unique Australian landscape.

“Landscape is my passion and ceramics, for me, represents the most honest way of honouring that landscape, utilising materials that are themselves part of the earth” (Drysdale, August 2016).

Pippin Drysdale @drysdalepippin

Penny’s ancestors traditional Gamilaraay (Northern Gomeroi) homelands are to the northwest of Bundjalung country in and around Garah, Mungindi, Boomi and Boggabilla. Penny’s work is an homage to her grandfather, great grandmother and their individual life struggles as Aborigines in a climate of virulent racism in Australia.

"The focus of my art is always identity, country and decolonizing and my practice is a process driven enquiry. My artwork creates a trail over time which mark and illustrate my decolonizing journey back to who we are, back to country, back to country within me. There’s a lineage of ideas, a mapping. My interrogation is through the process of making, so it’s about DNA mixed with ideas gathered from many people and places, from country and kin. The work is never about one thing, always multi-layered. My work is a legacy for my kids and family. There’s a lot of emotion in it too…"

Penny Evans @pennyevansart

Susan Frost (SA) is a full-time ceramic artist working in porcelain on a potter’s wheel. Susan has been working with clay since 2005 starting as a keen amateur then moving on to more formalised training at the Adelaide College of the Arts before entering JamFactory’s Associate Program in 2009.

"Colour is integral to my work. Minimalist forms allow me to explore the interrelationships of mood by placing series of colours closely together. The placement and proportions of the chosen objects enable colours to reflect and bounce off each other encouraging unexpected and exciting interactions to occur."

Susan Frost @susanfrost

Patsy Hely (ACT) is an artist who has worked predominately in the ceramic medium. Her work is held in major collections in Australia and internationally. Patsy's practice also encompasses writing and curating, with essays published in national and international publications.

Recently, Patsy has been devising her own notations of bird calls and transcribing them onto vessel-forms and for this exhibition, includes with each work a ceramic fabricated bird whistle in homage to Henry Grace (1885-1966), a well-known bird enthusiast and whistle maker whose idiosyncratic metal bird whistles can be found in the collection of the State Library of NSW.

Patsy Hely @patsyhely

Jeffery Mincham AM (SA) is a full-time ceramic artist with over forty years professional practice working from his home studio in the Adelaide Hills. Jeffery has produced an extensive body of work over that period, which has had a resounding influence on contemporary Australian ceramics.

"It has taken me a lifetime to acquire the fluency of my medium and it still challenges me! My intention is to engage an audience and capture their attention long enough to reflect on the landscapes that they feel a special connection too. A subtle mixture of nostalgia and memory, even a longing! I have come to understand that clay and the medium of ceramics can have a quite unique part to play in this aesthetic experience, it is just a matter of staying the course, the more you do the more you understand!"

Jeffery Mincham AM @jefferymincham

David Ray (VIC) is one of Australia’s leading ceramic artists. His artwork is held in numerous Australian and International collections and career spans over 25 years. He recently won the prestigious ‘2019 Winner of Excellence Award’ at the Victorian Craft Awards, which recognises the highest achievement in creativity, innovation and design across media in Victoria. In 2018 he won the Manningham ‘Victorian Ceramic Award’.

"I am heavily influenced by the shapes and designs of 17-18 Century European factory ceramic, especially Tureens as they can act as centre piece for a table or sideboard. The word having derived from the French word 'Terrine' that was based on the Latin term 'Terra' meaning earth. Traditionally their function is to hold a stew or soup. My Tureen is earth mutated, that is dysfunctional instead it’s the surface decoration that holds a narrative to be decided by you the spectator."

David Ray @davidrayceramics

Tania Rollond (NSW) completed a Bachelor of Arts in Design at Curtin University before discovering her passion for working with clay.

"The Journal of Australian Ceramics (or as it was then, Pottery in Australia) changed the path of my life, completely. I first encountered ceramics through a TAFE Saturday class. When I had become completely hooked, I decided to further my studies and my life experience by leaving my home state of WA. I worked my way through the National Education Survey section of maybe a decade of the Pottery in Australia magazines in the State Library, before settling on NSW and the National Art School for my future. I had never been ‘over East’, or to Sydney, but felt this research was sufficient!! It worked out very well."

Tania Rollond @taniarollond

Jane Sawyer's (VIC) ceramic practice has taken her to residencies and exhibitions in UK, Denmark and Japan and her work is held in institutional and private collections. Jane has served on the board of Craft Victoria, The World Crafts Council - Australia and is an exhibiting member of the International Academy Ceramics. She is founder of Slow Clay Centre (Melbourne), an independent ceramics education centre.

"My materials of choice are most frequently the humble and often underrated terracotta clay, layered with fluid slip coatings and often but not always finished with a clear glaze. It’s hard to get more simple than these materials! Simplifying my materials has allowed me to focus on the essence of gesture, movement and fluidity but terracotta is also a political choice in an age where some other clays are seen to be superior."

Jane Sawyer @janesawyer1

Vipoo Srivilasa (VIC) is a Thai-born artist, curator and arts activist who works predominantly in porcelain but also creates work on paper, mix media sculptures, bronze statues and designs large scale public art.

"For this show, I create a pair of friendly Dvarapala. They do not only ward off evil spirits but also welcome visitors. Instead of holding a club, they offer flowers and leave to visitors. Both of my Davrapala come with their own “vahana “ or animal- vehicle which they travel on and keep their company. Both animals, cat and dog are the most popular pets in the world. They are not only our great companion but also a guard for our house and a therapy to heal our spirit."

Vipoo Srivilasa @vipooart

Gerry Wedd (SA) is a potter and a surfer. He has been making pots for forty years. His work runs the gamut from functional domestic ware to large installation works and public art.

“My work has tended to reflect on popular culture and has a social commentary aspect incorporating songs, poems and current events through the prism of the history of ceramics. The hope is that information can be embedded in objects (pots) that will be in people’s lives for a long, long time.”

Gerry Wedd @gerrywedd