Patterns of Light: porcelain monoprints by Maiju Altpere-Woodhead

Echo #3, 2010, porcelain, monoprint, erosion, 1300ºC, h.100cm, w.100cm

Echo #3 (detail)

Soul’s Garden #6, 2010, porcelain, monoprint, erosion, 1300ºC, h.100cm, w.100cm

Soul’s Garden #6 (detail)

Speech by Vicki Grima at the opening of Patterns of Light


The intriguing work of Maiju Altpere Woodhead.

It’s rich and it’s beautiful.

It’s complex and it’s simple.

It’s serious yet also playful.

It’s ceramic and it’s printmaking.

Maiju makes use of printmaking techniques, but uses porcelain instead of paper. The way in which she combines the two, gives us the viewer, a richness and complexity which draws us in, then pushes us back again to view from a distance.

My eyes weave from one side to the other, across, in and under the textured surfaces, following the graphic markings she has made at various stages through the process of making. She paints coloured porcelain slips on in layers, scratches into it with scalpels, fine ballpoint pens and saw blades. Later when the slabs are dry she uses resists such as latex, shellac and wax, to cover areas she wants to keep, then rubs away at the surface, eroding the it away.

She works intuitively rather than planning every step and there, I feel, lies the beauty. It is subtle, quiet and dignified.

As you come in closer to the work, you can see the layers of porcelain – different colours, tones and textures. This is what draws me in. I want to see what is deep in there…  and discover those fine details for myself.

Maiju uses this physical layering of porcelain slip as a metaphor for personal memories and how they are created. Memory and meaning are created and re-created, arranged and re-arranged as time passes. Our memories sometimes become dormant before re-emerging somewhere else. Maiju’s work is about time, or maybe timelessness… that fleeting moment, that which we try to catch in a photo.

It’s also worth commenting also on Maiju’s use of ceramics as the material of choice. She is attracted to it’s durability and its tactility. She is searching for permanence.

In my job as Editor of The Journal of Australian Ceramics, I have been waiting for an opportunity to feature Maiju’s work in more detail, and so in issue 49/2 there is a feature article written by Ann McMahon.

I hope you will enjoy reading the article as it explains in more detail about Maiju’s heritage and influences on her work, along with as covering her process of making step by step. I hope I have done credit to Maiju’s accomplished work.

Congratulations to Kerrie and Elisabeth from Kerrie Lowe Gallery for continuing on in their support of studio ceramics in Australia.

“Up in Smoke!”

A ceramic exhibition hung up on size, and displayed on a pool table, was held last week during Clay Energy Gulgong 2010. Delegates/potters/teachers/students were invited to make and exhibit a ceramic art work that fitted inside a matchbox. A final 45 works will be chosen by organizers Michael Ciavarella and Rowley Drysdale, with the aim of an ongoing tour of the exhibition. There was no set theme and no box was to be altered or painted on the outside. The art work had to fit inside a standard Redheads Matchbox (content 45 Safety Matches).

My matchbox entry honoured the creative spirit of postman Ferdinand Cheval. Ferdinand Cheval (1836 - 1924) spent 33 years of his life building a palace in his backyard in Hauterives. He used stones he collected over 33 years, during his daily mail route. Cheval carried stones from his delivery rounds and at home used them to build his Palais idéal, the Ideal Palace. First he carried the stones in his pockets, then a basket and eventually a wheelbarrow. He often worked at night, by the light of an oil lamp. Cheval spent the first two decades building the outer walls. The Palace is a mix of different styles with inspirations from the Bible to Hindu mythology. Cheval bound the stones together with lime, mortar and cement.

Lucky 13!

Here is the cover of my 13th issue as editor of
The Journal of Australian Ceramics. 
Wood-firing is the theme for this one and it's a beauty!!! 
Rowley Drysdale from the Sunshine Coast, QLD, 
was guest editor as he's a wood-firer 
and knows lots about it all. 
He also runs a space called Quixotica 
where people come together to work with clay. 
Wood-firers have a love for this technique 
which is captured in this issue. 
Sure you'll love it!!!
Buy a copy here.

Spring Fever is over... the event that is!

SF is a bi-annual event organised by the Suncoast Clayworkers, 15 - 19 October 2009.

Vipoo Srivilasa, Fleur Schell, Ian Jones and Shannon Garson and Jim Robison (UK)

created work before a group of mostly local clayworkers.

Great work, lots of sharing and some hands-on fun

filled four fantastic days.

View more of my images here

photos of Spring Fever 2009

Vipoo reminded us of what was possible using the most basic tools - two hands, a butter knife and a wooden skewer.

Have you seen this interesting new work from Adelaide artist Simone-Clare Hede?

It's decorative, disturbing and definitely different!

Ceramic artist Simone-Clare Hede presents her first solo exhibition of hand-built works, Populuxe, consisting of ceramic vessels depicting consumers glued to the television screen in a zombie-like trance, wall-mounted vintage automobiles and colourful TV sets featuring grotesque versions of commercials common to the 1950s.

Populuxe opens on Wed 14 October at 6pm and closes on Fri 23 October at the Nexus Multicultural Arts Centre, cnr North Terrace and Morphett Street, Adelaide.

Shown here are some of Simone-Clare's brooches which she sells through her new website.

... and a brooch I made earlier ... Cool Ice porcelain, Japanese tissue transfer, clear glaze and gold lustre; fired three times - 980ºC, 1220ºC and 760ºC, then paint-on rust as the final touch.

Wood-fired ceramics by Ben Richardson

Click on this link to view a wonderful short "visual poem", based upon the work of Australian potter, Ben Richardson. It was shot in southern Tasmania and accompanied the exhibition, 'Working Fire', at Carnegie Gallery, Hobart, Tasmania.

Direction Glen Dunn and Ben Richardson

Camera and Editing Glen Dunn

Music and Sound Jethro Woodward

7.5 minutes

More on Ben's work can be viewed here:

http://www.benrichardson.com.au

What a great week in Sydney at Australian Ceramics Triennale!

Takeshi Yasuda demonstrating in the sunshine

The ceramics world in Sydney is slowly returning to normal after a wonderful Australian Ceramics Triennale. With over 50 exhibitions, it's hard to choose favourites, but I have a few: BEAKER CULTURE at Flinders St Gallery (bought a lovely 2 beaker set there by Trisha Dean), TABLEWARES at Rex Irwin (too late to buy the piece of choice), TERRA ANIMA (Avital Sheffer) at Robin Gibson (no money left by then), NEW FRIENDS, ART AND ADVENTURE (Aeden Harris) at the Japan Foundation Gallery (one piece still to collect) and WHITE HEAT at Manly Art Gallery (a translucent pair of Avi Amesbury's will sit on my windowsill). Planet (tableware), Helen Stephens (Kenji Uranishi), Brenda May (Ceramics Revisions) and Animalia (Irianna Kanellopoloulou) at Global Gallery also featured work which I will stay with me  - such diversity and some admirable new work. 

I felt positive after the discussion on future directions of ceramics education, disappointed by the lack of meaningful talk on writing and stimulated by Kim Dickey's keynote address.

The historical National Art School and its sandstone buildings  provided a perfect backdrop for demos by local and international ceramic artists. 

Check out my best 100 images on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/vickimosaic/sets/72157621721964349/