Finalist, Lake Art Prize 2022

Museum of Art and Culture yapang

Lake Macquarie, NSW, Australia

24 September - 11 December 2022

https://mac.lakemac.com.au/Events/Lake-Art-Prize-2022

Wayfaring 2020-2022, a series of nine lidded vessels

Brass, copper, sterling silver, 9ct gold, silver and gold solders

Installation photos of the Lake Art Prize 2022 courtesy Museum of Art and Culture yapang

Created in my home studio on Yuin Country at Callala Beach in NSW, where scribbly gum trees meet the sea, these small cylindrical vessels evoke a sense of movement through a metallurgical world of material-making. With each vessel I seek to capture the material radiance of metal, gradually building surfaces of textural intricacy and richly coloured hues reminiscent of sensory perceptions of the landscape that surrounds my studio - flickering light through the gum trees, pathways encrusted with stones and shells, and the shifting moods of the sea. Designed to hold precious things, mementos carried through life, the iterative and incremental making of these vessel forms are analogous to wayfaring through time and place. Constructing each vessel is like travelling slowly along paths of material flow, involving transformative processes in the studio that draw upon the elemental forces of fire and water. Geological time expands and contracts as the metal is repeatedly heated and formed through hammering and soldering methods. New discoveries unfold along retraced paths, with every step of the making process echoing the perpetual flux of this beautiful place.