Artist Lea Durie, pictured outside her Braidwood studio, is curating the new Canberra Potters exhibition, Vessels from the Villages. Photo: Taylah Cunningham.
Ceramic artist Ian Jones has lived on “the hill”, as he calls it for more than 40 years – and couldn’t imagine living and working anywhere else.
His home is the old St Luke’s Church just between Gundaroo and Sutton, which could be in the middle of nowhere with its paddocks, sheep and, on the day we spoke, a sky full of sunshine.
“It’s the sort of place which makes you feel like a millionaire,” the artist, who shares the property with his partner and fellow artist Moraig McKenna, said.
It’s creatives like Ian and Moraig, along with other ceramic artists from across the Canberra region who will feature in a new exhibition, organised by Canberra Potters, called The Places We Inhabit: Vessels from the Villages.
Curated by Braidwood ceramacist Lea Durie, the artists have been invited to tell the story of how where they live can’t but help inspire what they create.
“It’s what you can see out your window, that can be where your inspiration comes from,” Lea said.
“That’s what I wanted in this exhibition. There are so many artists who live out of town; we share the same ideals, the same goals.”
For Ian, it also helps that he lives near where he sources the raw material that he creates all his work from – clay. “I’m probably more influenced in a sense by the materials in the clay I use. The clay is based on the porcelain we make and I add decomposed granite from near Gunning.
“I love using this local material with the kiln and see the interaction between the two. A lot of my inspiration comes from the process, and the materials used.”
Ian, who also teaches his art from the studio on the property, says he enjoys working with emerging artists, seeing what they can do. He believes such new work has also helped drive a resurgence in the artform.
“I’ve noticed what it has also done is create its own little community,” he said. “Friendships have developed on the periphery of what we do – that is great to see.”
Lea said she came up with the idea for the exhibition last year, while working in her studio at Braidwood.
“I was conscious of so many amazing makers around here,” she said. “The spaces they live and work in are non-urban, and doing this exhibition brings us all together. I wish we could have a hundred in the show,” she joked.
Gundaroo potter Ian Jones will be one of the exhibitors in the new Canberra Potters exhibition. Photo: Supplied.
“But we have nine – all of them bringing something different.”
Some, she said, live in remote areas, others have created their own kilns in the bush, some work in the same environment but create different work.
“That’s what makes this so interesting – that all the makers are different.”
Lea describes The Places We Inhabit: Vessels from the Villages as an immersive journey through the rugged and beautiful landscape surrounding the ACT, through the eyes of the artists who live and make there.
“In this exhibition of diverse and beautiful ceramics forms, we are invited to share the intimate and individual relationship these artists share with the land of this region,” she said.
“Whether it’s the earthy reds of local clays, the imprints of the non-human world on pure white porcelain, or the distinctive softness of a wood-fired vessel, each piece bears the distinct imprint of the place these artists call home.”
Artists featured in the exhibition from Braidwood, Sutton, Bungendore, Collector and Gundaroo, and places in between, include Kate McKay, Robin Booth, Joey Burns, Moraig McKenna, Ian Jones, Mahala Hill, Lisa Maddern, Michael Warner and Lea Durie.
The Places We Inhabit: Vessels from the Villages opens on 26 September and runs until 20 October from 10 am – 4 pm Tuesday to Saturday and 11 am – 3 pm Sunday at the Canberra Potters Gallery, Watson.
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