Clay is a fine way to make form. It is both raw and material. You work with it, then you cook it. But in the process this lump of amorphous matter has the potential to become, or to suggest, almost anything.

You cajole it and nurture it along the way, and you hope that in the making you can invest it with a voice that can speak powerfully about ideas and elicit reactions and emotions.

The ideas that motivate each piece for me change, but they are usually about people and everyday life, things that can build on the connections between us.

I like the work to be light even if the subject matter is heavy, something that can be taken smiling even if the fact is grim.

Biography

Education

2008 – 2010
Master of Fine Arts (ceramics) Sydney College of the Arts.
2004 – 2006
Bachelor of Visual Arts, Honours I(ceramics) Sydney College of the Arts.
1971 – 1975
Diploma of Graphic Design, Randwick School of Design.

Professional Experience

2003 -
Began writing feature articles on architecture and design for Indesign magazine.
1994
Began producing editorial work for various magazines including the Australian Financial Review Magazine, Steel Profile, World Architecture and others. Wrote the ‘Other Passions,’ page in the Australian Financial Review Magazine until 2010.
1992
Established communications and design company, Oki Doki Productions.
1976 -1992
Worked as an art director, then as a copywriter, in major advertising agencies.

Exhibitions and Awards

2018

Finalist, Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize, South Australian Museum, 8 June – 5 August 2018

2017

Animology Exhibition, Saint Cloche, Paddington, 11-22 October; Finalist, Brisbane Art Prize, 5-27 October; Sculpture 2017, Kerrie Lowe Gallery, 20 October - 18 November;

2016
Landforms and Carried Away Series, Form/Surface/Structure Exhibition, Kerrie Lowe Gallery, Newtown, 14 – 28 October; Drawn-on Vase Series, Clay Marks Exhibition, Kerrie Lowe Gallery, Newtown, 19 August – 6 September; Pret-a-Paws Exhibition, Saint Cloche, Paddington, 15 – 28 June;

Elements, Saint Cloche Gallery, Paddington, 9 – 20 February;
2015
Black Line Boogie, Saint Cloche Gallery, Paddington, 11 August – 1 September

Ten Green Bottles, and Headland, HarbourSculpture, Woolwich Deckhouse, 30July – 5 August;

Various cactus works, Cactus Wonderland, Saint Cloche, Paddington, 14 – 28 February;
2014
Love Letters, Frances Keevil Gallery, Double Bay, Sydney, December – January;

Contemporary Porcelain, Kerrie Lowe Gallery, 12 June – 1 July

2013
Camouflage Cultures, International conference and exhibition, curated by Ann Elias and Nicholas Tsoutas, Sydney College of the Arts, 8 – 31 August;
North Sydney Art Prize exhibition, 26 July – 4 August, North Sydney
2012
Finalist, Fauvette Laureiro Memorial Artists Travel Scholarship Exhibition, Sydney College of the Arts, 9– 20 October, 2012
2011
The Narrative Knot- Stories in Ceramics, Manly Art Gallery & Museum, 2 December – 22 Jan 2012;
Making their own Way, Kerrie Lowe Gallery, 28 October – 15 December;
Contemporary Work by Recent Graduates of SCA, Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery, 24 Sept – 12 Nov;
Solo exhibition, Show of Care, Salerno Gallery, Glebe. 24 May –-11 June;
A Fresh Perspective, Kerrie Lowe Gallery, King St, Newtown. 1 – 12 April;
Greatest Hits Volume 2, Verge Gallery, City Road, Newtown, 21 Feb – 18 March.
2010
Masters Show, Sydney College of the Arts, Rozelle, 8 – 15 December, 2010.
Read my Cups, Utility Show, Sydney College of the Arts, Rozelle
2009
Co-curator, Young Guns, Sydney College of the Arts, Rozelle, 15 – 29 July;
Selected for Pourers, group exhibition at Object Gallery, Sydney, 11 – 26 July;
NYOU, Horus and Deloris Contemporary Art Space, Sydney, 1 – 29 July;
SET, group exhibition, Delmar Gallery, Ashfield, Sydney 24 May – 14 June
2008-2009
APA Research Scholarship, University of Sydney
2006
Honours Graduation Show, Sydney College of the Arts
2006
Clay Station 8 Horus & Deloris Contemporary Art Space, Sydney, 1 – 13 Sept.;
Tacit Tactics, SCA Galleries, 8 Aug – 9 Sept; University of Sydney Honours Scholarship
2005
Graduation show, Sydney College of the Arts;
Continuing Undergraduate Scholarship, University of Sydney

Writing on Ceramics

2017

Gondwana Horizon, The Journal of Australian Ceramics, Vol 56, No 1, April 2017, pp65 - 69; Catalogue Essay, Barbara Campbell-Allen, Gondwana Horizon, An Australian Landscape Narrative, Gallery Manora, January 21 - February 19;

2012
Les Blakebrough, The Journal of Australian Ceramics, Vol 513, Nov 2012, pp 14 – 22;
Janet deBoos, The Space Between, The Journal of Australian Ceramics, Vol 512, July 2012 pp 14 – 20;
The Whole Man, The Life and Work of Peter Rushforth, The Journal of Australian Ceramics, Vol 511, April 2012 pp 30 – 40
2009
History & Herstory, Ceramic Art and Perception, Issue 77