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19 September 2026 – 17 January 2027 Perc Tucker Regional Gallery

Published on the occasion of

19 September 2026 – 17 January 2027 Perc Tucker Regional Gallery Publisher Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, Townsville City Galleries Townsville City Council PO Box 1268 Townsville City, Queensland, 4810 Australia galleries@townsville.qld.gov.au © Galleries, Townsville City Council, and respective artists and authors, 2026 ISBN: 978-0-949461-67-4

Publication design Townsville City Council Digital, Content & Design Team

Publication editor Evie Franzidis

Galleries Team Jo Lankester Vacant Chloe Lausen Veerle Janssens Michael Favot Zoe Seitis Jonathan Brown Ashleigh Peters Erin O’Shannessy Tanya Tanner Steve Bonanno Blake Collis Jade James Emma Murphy Taylor Sopronick Kirsten Browning Claire Marsh Sue Drummond Dariene Guerreiro

Acting Galleries Director Senior Exhibitions and Collections Officer Curatorial Assistant Collection Management Officer Exhibitions Officer Exhibitions Officer Senior Education and Programs Officer Education and Programs Officer Education and Programs Officer Senior Public Art Officer Public Art Officer Customer Service Officer Customer Service Officer Customer Service Officer Gallery Assistant Gallery Assistant Gallery Assistant Team Leader Business Support Business Support Officer

Organised by Townsville City Galleries

Sponsors

Front cover

Back cover

Marlize Myburgh Almost, Between, 2026 Image courtesy the artist.

Mollie Bosworth Leaflines, 2025 Image courtesy the artist.

Acknowledgements

Perc Tucker Regional Gallery Cnr Denham and Flinders St Townsville QLD 4810 Tue–Fri: 10am – 5pm Sat–Sun: 10am – 1pm

Presenting Partners

(07) 4727 9011 galleries@townsville.qld.gov.au whatson.townsville.qld.gov.au Townsville City Galleries TownsvilleCityGalleries

Townsville City Council acknowledges the Wulgurukaba of Gurambilbarra and Yunbenun, Bindal, Gugu Badhun and Nywaigi as the Traditional Owners of this land. We pay our respects to their cultures, their ancestors and their Elders—past and present—and all future generations.

2026 BIENNIAL NORTH QUEENSLAND CERAMIC AWARDS

CONTENTS

Foreword

A Message from the Mayor

A Message from the North Queensland Potters Association

Sponsors & Supporters

Award Categories

Selection Panel Members

Judge

Finalists

Programs

172

173

FOREWORD

On behalf of Townsville City Galleries, it is our pleasure to welcome you to the 2026 biennial North Queensland Ceramic Awards. For more than two decades, the Awards has celebrated excellence, innovation, and creativity in contemporary ceramic practice. Established through the long-standing partnership between Townsville City Galleries and the North Queensland Potters Association, the North Queensland Ceramic Awards continue to showcase the remarkable diversity and strength of ceramic art being produced across Australia. This year’s exhibition brings together an outstanding selection of works that demonstrate both technical mastery and creative exploration. From functional vessels to ambitious sculptural forms, the finalists reflect the breadth of contemporary ceramics and the many ways artists continue to push the boundaries of the medium. The Awards also provide an important opportunity to recognise the cultural significance of ceramics within Australia’s visual arts landscape. Clay is a material with a rich history, connecting artists across generations through shared traditions of making while offering endless possibilities for experimentation, storytelling and innovation. I would like to sincerely thank our judging panel—Dianne Peach, Edward O’Brien, Judy Hamilton and Paul Davis—for generously contributing their expertise and time to the selection process. Their collective experience and knowledge of ceramic practice have been invaluable in recognising the exceptional quality of work presented in this year’s Awards. My thanks also extend to the North Queensland Potters Association, and to our sponsors EV2 Sportwear and the Rainford Family for their ongoing partnership and commitment to supporting ceramic artists, as well as the exhibiting artists, whose creativity and dedication make this exhibition possible. I invite you to spend time with the works, appreciate the skill and imagination behind each piece, and celebrate the vibrant ceramic community represented in this exhibition. Congratulations to all finalists and award recipients. Jo Lankester Acting Galleries Director, Townsville City Galleries

A MESSAGE FROM THE MAYOR

2026 BIENNIAL NORTH QUEENSLAND CERAMIC AWARDS

It is a pleasure to welcome you to the 2026 biennial North Queensland Ceramic Awards. North Queensland is home to an extraordinarily talented and creative community, and these Awards continue to highlight the important role the arts play in enriching our region. Through skill, innovation and dedication, ceramic artists transform a timeless medium into works that tell stories, challenge perspectives and celebrate the unique character of our communities. The North Queensland Ceramic Awards has built a strong reputation as one of the region’s premier arts events, providing artists with the opportunity to showcase their work while connecting audiences with the diversity and excellence of contemporary ceramic practice. Year after year, the exhibition demonstrates the remarkable talent that exists within Australia’s arts sector and reinforces the value of supporting creative industries in regional communities.

2026 BIENNIAL NORTH QUEENSLAND CERAMIC AWARDS

A MESSAGE FROM THE NORTH QUEENSLAND POTTERS ASSOCIATION

It is my great pleasure to introduce the 2026 biennial North Queensland Ceramic Awards, a collaboration between Perc Tucker Regional Gallery (Townsville City Council) and the North Queensland Potters Association Inc. Since 1973, this ceramic competition and exhibition has earned a proud reputation for showcasing outstanding ceramic art and attracting highly respected judges. This year continues that tradition of excellence, with the major award once again being acquisitive. The winning work will become part of the City of Townsville Art Collection, further enriching its significant collection of ceramics. The 2026 North Queensland Ceramic Awards marks the 45th edition of this competition held in Townsville. Since its inception the intent has remained the same: providing a valuable opportunity for artists to exhibit their work and engage with audiences across North Queensland and beyond.

I congratulate all finalists and award recipients on their outstanding achievements. To have your work selected for this exhibition is a significant accomplishment and a testament to your commitment to your craft.

This year’s judge, Paul Davis is an internationally recognised Australian ceramic artist, whose practice is strongly influenced by Japanese ceramic traditions. Given Paul has over 50 years of experience in the field of ceramics, we are indeed fortunate to have him judging this year’s Awards.

I also extend my sincere thanks to Townsville City Galleries, the North Queensland Potters Association, the judging panel, sponsors, volunteers and staff whose efforts have made this exhibition possible. Your ongoing support ensures the continued success of an event that contributes so positively to the cultural life of North Queensland.

I extend my sincere thanks to everyone who has contributed to the presentation of this year’s North Queensland Ceramic Awards. In particular, I acknowledge the dedicated staff of Perc Tucker Regional Gallery, whose professionalism and commitment have been instrumental in the success of these Awards.

I encourage everyone to take the opportunity to explore this year’s exhibition and celebrate the creativity, craftsmanship and passion of the artists whose work is on display.

Of course, the competition would not be possible without the Award sponsors; thanks must go to Townsville City Council, EV2 Sportswear and the Rainford Family.

Cr Nick Dametto Mayor of Townsville

Finally, I thank all the artists who have entered the competition and devoted their time, creativity and skill to producing these exceptional works. Congratulations to all those selected as finalists, and thank you for sharing your talent with our community. Margaret Crawford President North Queensland Potters Association Inc.

2026 BIENNIAL NORTH QUEENSLAND CERAMIC AWARDS

SPONSORS & SUPPORTERS

The North Queensland Potters Association established the North Queensland Ceramic Awards in 1973 and has played a vital role in supporting and promoting ceramic practice across the region. The Association continues its long-standing commitment to the Awards and the wider ceramics community.

In memory of David Rainford. David and Phyllis (Leong) Rainford’s interest in ceramics stems from their time at the National Art School in Sydney and as collectors of ceramics.

Pack & Send Townsville are valued supporters of the North Queensland Ceramic Awards, providing logistics and freight services that help bring finalist artworks from across Australia to the exhibition.

2026 BIENNIAL NORTH QUEENSLAND CERAMIC AWARDS

AWARD CATEGORIES

Townsville City Council have been long-term supporters of the North Queensland Ceramic Awards and continue to support the Awards this year as the sponsor of the major acquisitive prize, the City of Townsville Art Collection Award of $10,000.

Thanks to the passion of the Short family, EV2 Sportswear have been long-term supporters of the North Queensland Ceramic Awards, acting as sponsors since 1980.

City of Townsville Art Collection Award

$10,000 (acquisitive)

EV2 Sportswear Award

People’s Choice Award

Rainford Family Award

(acquisitive)

(non-acquisitive)

$2,000

$1,000

$500

2026 BIENNIAL NORTH QUEENSLAND CERAMIC AWARDS

SELECTION PANEL MEMBERS

Dianne Peach

Edward O’Brien

Dr Judith Hamilton

Dianne Peach has engaged with ceramics for over 60 years. Her innovative designs are characterised by skilled craftsmanship, using a range of clay types and construction and firing methods. Her work is held in the National Gallery of Australia’s collection, most state collections, many regional collections, and internationally.

Edward O’Brien is a Townsvillebased ceramic artist and educator who has been involved with the North Queensland pottery community for more than 20 years. Known for his functional stoneware, porcelain, and raku-fired works, he combines technical skill with a passion for teaching. His work is exhibited throughout North Queensland, and he has inspired generations of emerging ceramicists through his longstanding teaching practice.

Dr Judith Hamilton has been involved with the art world for nearly 60 years. After several years as a secondary school art specialist teacher in Queensland and Victoria, she made creating her own art her priority. Her work was shown in the Bicentennial Exhibition at the Sydney Opera House in 1988. However, she found her forte in ceramic sculpture. In 2015, she completed her PhD at The University of Queensland, with her dissertation offering an analysis of the development of Brisbane’s art world.

She currently tutors at Brisbane Institute of Art, holds freelance workshops Australia wide, and provides specialist tuition privately in her Brisbane studio.

2026 BIENNIAL NORTH QUEENSLAND CERAMIC AWARDS

JUDGE

Paul Davis Paul Davis is an internationally recognised Australian ceramic artist whose practice is based in both Western and Japanese ceramic traditions. With more than 50 years of experience, he has held several leadership roles, including Head of Ceramics at Monash University, Frankston and Director of Sturt Pottery. His work is represented in major public, corporate, and private collections, and he is an elected member of the International Academy of Ceramics.

FINALISTS

2026 BIENNIAL NORTH QUEENSLAND CERAMIC AWARDS

Avi Amesbury Elements of Place #1, 2026 Porcelain Found clays Multiple pieces: 40 x 13 x 13 cm overall Image courtesy of the artist. Photograph by Visuall Photography.

About the artwork

About the artist

Avi Amesbury creates porcelain objects inspired by the Australian landscape. She collects clays from various locations to explore her connection to ‘place’. These raw materials taken from the earth are used to form her palette. They create the colour nuances of the Australian landscape, and are incorporated into the surface of her work, capturing the unique essence and spirit of each landscape. Porcelain, incorrectly perceived as fragile, is used to highlight the duality of nature: vulnerable but also strong and resilient. Her ‘Elements of Place’ series is inspired by her walks through the ancient, spiritual lands of Queensland and the Northern Territory.

Currently living in Bundaberg, Avi Amesbury graduated from the Australian National University (ANU) School of Art & Design with a Bachelor of Visual Arts (Ceramics) with Honours in 2002, receiving the ANU Lyle T. Cullen Memorial Prize; she also studied at Hong-Ik University in Seoul (2002). Avi has been artist-in-residence at the Benyamini Contemporary Ceramics Centre, Israel (2017); Fremantle Art Centre (2022); and Central Craft, Mparntwe/Alice Springs (2023). Most recently, she collaborated with composer and sound artist MJ from Those Who Ride With Giants to create nine soundtracks that blended MJ’s compositions and instrumental soundscapes with Avi’s poems, spoken word, landscape recordings, and sounds produced from her ceramic works. Her work has been selected for national and international exhibitions, and she has participated in symposiums, exhibitions, and festivals across Australia and overseas, including in China, Japan, Croatia, Scotland, Hungary, the USA, and Israel. Her work is held public and private collections and art galleries.

2026 BIENNIAL NORTH QUEENSLAND CERAMIC AWARDS

Avi Amesbury Elements of Place #2, 2025 Porcelain Found clays One piece: 37 x 18 x 18 cm Image courtesy of the artist. Photograph by Visuall Photography.

About the artwork

About the artist

Avi Amesbury creates porcelain objects inspired by the Australian landscape. She collects clays from various locations to explore her connection to ‘place’. These raw materials are used in her work to create the colour nuances of the Australian landscape and to capture the unique essence and spirit of the land. During her residency in Mparntwe, she spent many hours walking through the traditional lands of the Anangu, Luritja, Arrernte, Western Arrernte and Pitjantjatjara peoples. Her ‘Elements of Place’ series was inspired by her walks through these ancient, spiritual lands.

2026 BIENNIAL NORTH QUEENSLAND CERAMIC AWARDS

Lisa Argenton High above the Earth, 2025 Stoneware Copper wash, matte white glaze, gold paint 45 x 35 x 27 cm Image courtesy of the artist.

About the artwork

About the artist

Perched high above the Earth, a winged chimpanzee sits in quiet contemplation, his gaze fixed gently upon the world below. He is neither judge nor saviour, but a silent observer, inviting us to pause and consider the choices we make as individuals and as a society.

After 30 years as a jeweller, Lisa Argenton has recently turned her practice to sculpture. While jewellery has taught Lisa attention to detail, clay offers her the freedom to create larger, expressive forms that explore story and symbolism. Her work is inspired by animals, mythology, and humanity’s relationship with the world. She creates winged creatures that blur reality and allow our imaginations to soar. Lisa also draws on African and Indigenous visual languages and has a deep reverence for nature. The disappearing natural world is central to her work, often reflecting endangered or culturally significant species. Her use of wings symbolises hope, transcendence, and spiritual connection.

One of our closest living relatives, the chimpanzee has similar traits of intelligence, curiosity, compassion, and imperfections. Given wings, this chimp is transformed into a mythical guardian, existing between the earthly and the spiritual—a being capable of seeing humanity from a broader perspective. The rich blue surface of his skin represents wisdom, reflection, and the infinite sky, while gold highlights shimmer across his body. These flecks of gold symbolise the light that exists within all of us: moments of kindness, resilience, hope, and the beauty that can still be found in uncertain times. They remind us that every individual carries something precious, no matter how small it may seem.

2026 BIENNIAL NORTH QUEENSLAND CERAMIC AWARDS

Josephine Backhouse Happy Wanderer, 2026 Porcelain, niochrome wire, resin Multiple glazes 18 x 24 x 15 cm Image courtesy of the artist.

About the artwork

About the artist

This porcelain assemblage merges hybrid spinifex seed pod forms with the familiar geometry of a discarded bottle, bringing together organic growth and human-made objects. Inspired by coastal environments where natural fragments and marine debris accumulate through wind and tide, the work reflects on landscapes shaped by continual cycles of erosion, dispersal, and rebirth. The bottle is transformed from an object of consumption into a vessel for regeneration, with delicate botanical elements emerging from and enveloping its surface. Rather than dwelling on environmental decline, the sculpture offers hope for the future, celebrating nature’s capacity to adapt and reclaim. Through porcelain, the sculpture considers resilience, evolution, and the enduring possibility of renewal.

Josephine Backhouse is an Australian ceramic artist working between Naarm/Melbourne and Ōtautahi/ Christchurch, Aotearoa New Zealand. Her sculptural ceramics are informed by her close observation of coastal environments and the collection of natural materials such as seed pods, bark, shells, and driftwood. Her practice centres on hand-built ceramic sculpture and assemblage using porcelain and mixed firing and construction techniques. Josephine has various qualifications in visual art, museum studies, and art history, and more recently in ceramics, earning a Graduate Diploma in Ceramic Arts from the Dunedin School of Art, Otago, in 2025. Josephine has exhibited widely across Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia, and has been selected as a finalist in several national and international awards, including the Ceramics New Zealand National Award (2025) and the Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize (2026).

2026 BIENNIAL NORTH QUEENSLAND CERAMIC AWARDS

Meredith Baillie Royal Spoonbill, 2026 White raku with porcelain slip Interior glaze 40 x 35 x 16 cm Image courtesy of the artist.

About the artwork

About the artist

Royal Spoonbill portrays one of Australia’s most distinctive wetland birds in breeding plumage. The vessel was designed in response to the bird, with the asymmetrical rim reflecting the sweep of its crest so that form and image become a single composition. Layers of black slip are carefully carved to reveal the white porcelain beneath, using subtle tonal shading to convey the softness and structure of the bird’s plumage. Based on a photograph by Muneer Al Shanti.

Meredith Baillie is a ceramic artist working on Dharug/Guringai land, Berowra, NSW, whose handbuilt vessels combine sculptural form with finely detailed sgraffito drawn from close observation of Australian birdlife. Her practice extends the traditional sgraffito process through the use of subtle tonal shading, creating depth and texture that reveal the character of each bird. After establishing and running Sappho Books & Café in Glebe for 26 years, she turned her focus to ceramics and now works from Hornsby TAFE Open Studio.

2026 BIENNIAL NORTH QUEENSLAND CERAMIC AWARDS

Meredith Baillie Peregrine Falcon, 2026 White raku with porcelain slip Midfire interior glaze 36 x 37 x 27 cm Image courtesy of the artist.

About the artwork

About the artist

Peregrine Falcon portrays the world’s fastest bird, capturing the controlled power and precision that make it one of nature’s most accomplished hunters. The vessel was designed to reinforce the movement of the bird in flight, with the form and image conceived as a single composition. Layers of black slip are carved to reveal the white porcelain beneath, using subtle tonal shading to capture the structure and texture of the falcon’s plumage.

The reference photograph by Greg Wyncoll is used with permission.

2026 BIENNIAL NORTH QUEENSLAND CERAMIC AWARDS

Fiona Banner Desert Basket, 2026 Stoneware Slips and underglazes, studio-made glazes 28 x 16 x 14 cm Image courtesy of the artist.

About the artwork

About the artist

Inspired by Outback Queensland, this wheel-thrown and altered basket captures the dry bony landscape colours and textures of this part of the country. I enjoy pushing the clay to its limits by combining techniques and using the slip trailer to create colour and surface texture. The dry season sun powers my solar-powered studio and electric kilns, and gives me energy to produce works such as this.

Originally from Australia, Fiona Banner trained in ceramics in the UK and then returned to Australia in 1981. A long-term Townsville resident, she enjoys “the tropical life even through the harsh wet seasons and our changing climate”. She also professes to “love all aspects of ceramics” and shares her skills by teaching the community.

2026 BIENNIAL NORTH QUEENSLAND CERAMIC AWARDS

Martin Baxter Germaine, 2026 Stoneware Wood-fired, salt glaze, various slips and glazes, natural wood ash 13.5 x 22 x 10 cm Image courtesy of the artist.

About the artwork

About the artist

Germaine was born from the concept of play— something that has become increasingly absent from our daily lives. Often displaced by competing demands and economic pressures, play is nevertheless a powerful tool for nervous system regulation. It nurtures creativity, connection, curiosity, and growth.

Martin Baxter is a ceramic artist based in Naarm/Melbourne, who spent five years in Western Australia before relocating to Victoria in 2025. During his time in the west, Martin focused on learning form, the ways of wood firing, wood ash glazes, and salt glazing.

Through the process of playing with form, I turned a bowl on its head, added and rearranged elements, and allowed a new entity to emerge. Germaine developed its own personality and charm. Its form embodies the cognitive benefits of play within the creative process, the social connection fostered through the wood-fire process, and the emotional release experienced throughout the making. Germaine is a reminder that play is not frivolous—it is a vital part of how we think, connect, create, and grow. Let’s continue to play.

Since moving to Melbourne, Martin has assisted in community kiln-building projects, as well as built his own Soda Kiln. Martin won the 2025 Functional Korowa Ceramic Art Prize and has exhibited in various states of Australia. Martin’s current practice seeks to explore the balance between form and colour within a vapour glaze environment.

2026 BIENNIAL NORTH QUEENSLAND CERAMIC AWARDS

Mollie Bosworth Leaflines, 2025 Porcelain, cyanotype salts Cyanotype photogram images fired and unfired on unglazed surface Multiple pieces: 15 x 30 x 24 cm overall Image courtesy of the artist.

About the artwork

About the artist

Leaflines, a series of oval vessels, extends my exploration of layered, image‑rich ceramic surfaces by merging porcelain with cyanotype photography. I applied light-sensitive solutions directly onto the fired clay body, and developed photograms using ferns collected and pressed by my mother. Negatives were also used to develop positive images. This photographic imagery becomes embedded within the ceramic surface. The works, which evolve through fired and unfired layers, gathers memory and material, honouring my mother’s botanical research, while preserving and reimagining a shared legacy through light and time.

Mollie Bosworth is a Kuranda-based ceramic artist whose decades-long practice centres on finely thrown porcelain and the creation of layered, image-rich surfaces. Largely self-taught, her work has developed through sustained enquiry, experimentation, and a deep engagement with material processes. She holds a Diploma of Art (Ceramics) from ANU School of Art & Design, Canberra. Mollie has received significant recognition, including the Siliceous Award (2017), the North Queensland Ceramics Award (2005), and an Honourable Mention in the 3rd World Ceramic Biennale International Competition (2005). Her work is represented in the collections of Manly Art Gallery and Museum, Griffith University, the Townsville City Ceramic Collection, the Queensland State Collection, and the Gold Coast City Art Collection. She has presented two solo exhibitions at Cairns Regional Gallery (2005, 2018), and has exhibited widely across Australia in curated and selected exhibitions. Her work has also appeared in several publications on clay and cyanotype.

2026 BIENNIAL NORTH QUEENSLAND CERAMIC AWARDS

Mollie Bosworth Earth Pulse, 2026 Porcelain, metallic salts Polished exterior with metallic salts fired in reduction 14 x 13 x 13 cm Image courtesy of the artist.

About the artwork

About the artist

Earth Pulse extends my two-decade investigation into the reactive behaviour of metallic salts on polished porcelain. Variations in moisture and kiln atmosphere push these soluble salts toward unpredictable outcomes. Fired in reduction, this work carries a subtly shifting surface: graduated spots appear to expand and contract with the curve of the form, their nuances shaped by position within the kiln’s changing atmosphere. In Earth Pulse, the boundaries between body and surface dissolve, holding a moment of quiet aliveness.

2026 BIENNIAL NORTH QUEENSLAND CERAMIC AWARDS

Paula Bowie Womb Within, 2026 Wheel-thrown Bennetts Stoneware 40 x 26 x 26 cm Image courtesy of the artist. Photograph by Lahlia Patterson.

About the artwork

About the artist

This vessel invites your inward gaze. Don’t resist. Let her pull you in.

Paula Bowie is a full-time ceramic artist residing in Quandamooka Country, Macleay Island. Following formal art studies, she completed a Diploma of Ceramics at Dapto TAFE, NSW with tutor Steven Harrison and Lawrence Mearing.

These individual and meticulously crafted pieces nestled inside this saggar-fired mother. She speaks of hidden layers, passages of time, the offering of shelter and refuge. She speaks of the Earth, of ancient things yet to be discovered. This vessel is painted with hand-made slip and fine sapphires collected on my fossicking journeys in northwest Queensland. She offers a universal story that we all know instinctively.

Bowie has held numerous solo exhibitions and participated in group exhibitions across Queensland and the south coast of New South Wales, with an exhibition history spanning the Sunshine Coast, Gympie, Cleveland, Emerald, the Moreton Bay region, the Granite Belt and Gerringong, where she held her first exhibition. Her practice explores the sculptural potential of voluminous forms, drawing inspiration from the timeless presence and material language of ancient art. Bowie is captivated by clay’s tactile responsiveness, using challenging forms, bold textures and intricate mark-making to create vessels of distinctive character.

2026 BIENNIAL NORTH QUEENSLAND CERAMIC AWARDS

Jenna Catchpole Mum and Me: 19 years with, 19 years without, 2025 Stoneware Shino glaze and layers of sally wattle wood ash Multiple pieces: 35 x 27 x 18 cm overall Image courtesy of the artist.

About the artwork

About the artist

This work forms part of my ongoing ‘Mum and Me’ series, initiated in 2025 at a midpoint in my life: 19 years with my mother, and 19 years without her. Created as a pair, these vessels explore the enduring presence of a relationship beyond physical absence. The forms were woodfired together in an anagama kiln for 80 hours continuously, with their shared firing becoming an extension of their connection. ‘Mum’ was positioned in the firebox, where intense flame and ash created flowing natural ash glaze trails across the surface, while ‘Me’ was placed near the sidestoke, absorbing a different dialogue with fire and atmosphere. Layered with shino glaze, raw clay, and carbon traces, their surfaces become unrepeatable records of time, memory, and transformation: mother and daughter held together through clay and fire.

Jenna Catchpole is a Meanjin/Brisbane-based ceramic artist whose relationship with clay began in childhood alongside her mother, a potter. After a period of personal loss, she returned to ceramics and has studied for 14 years under Ray Cavill at Clayschool Brisbane, where she also works as a ceramics teacher and studio technician. Jenna’s practice explores memory, lineage, presence and absence through wheel-thrown and sculptural vessels. Since discovering woodfiring in 2015, she has travelled across Australia to participate in Anagama and Noborigama firings, embracing the elemental dialogue between maker, flame and atmosphere. Jenna holds a Bachelor of Visual Media from the Queensland College of Art, Griffith University. Her work is held in the Museum of Brisbane and private collections and has been exhibited nationally. In 2026, she presented her second solo exhibition Her Flame, My Hands at Vacant Assembly, exhibited in Forged in Fire at Jan Manton Gallery, was a finalist in the Ross Creek Gallery Infuse Art Prize, and participated in Clay’s Cool and Women Who Woodfire at Clay Gulgong. She is a recipient of the Queensland Education Minister’s Award for Excellence in Art.

2026 BIENNIAL NORTH QUEENSLAND CERAMIC AWARDS

Jenna Catchpole Mum and Me: Forged in the firebox, 2026 Stoneware Unglazed, raw clay, layers of sally wattle wood ash Multiple pieces: 38 x 34 x 34 cm overall Image courtesy of the artist.

About the artwork

About the artist

This work represents my ongoing exploration of memory, connection, and enduring presence. These tall, elegant vessels are created and fired as a pair, occupying the kiln together throughout the duration of the firing. Pairing operates as both structure and language, where relationship is not depicted, but enacted through proximity, interdependence, and shared transformation.

The vessels emerge as relational bodies—mother and daughter, witness and companion—connected beyond the physical world. Woodfired together in the firebox of an anagama kiln for 80 hours continuously, they were immersed in the kiln’s most intense environment, where flame, ash, and atmosphere became collaborators. Created from raw clay with no applied glaze, their surfaces reveal layers of wood ash, colour, texture, and carbon trapping. Each mark is a record of the fire’s passage: an unrepeatable testament to the connection, resilience, and enduring bond that exists between a mother and daughter.

Jenna’s practice explores memory, lineage, presence and absence through wheel-thrown and sculptural vessels. Since discovering woodfiring in 2015, she has travelled across Australia to participate in Anagama and Noborigama firings, embracing the elemental dialogue between maker, flame and atmosphere. Jenna holds a Bachelor of Visual Media from the Queensland College of Art, Griffith University. Her work is held in the Museum of Brisbane and private collections and has been exhibited nationally. In 2026, she presented her second solo exhibition Her Flame, My Hands at Vacant Assembly, exhibited in Forged in Fire at Jan Manton Gallery, was a finalist in the Ross Creek Gallery Infuse Art Prize, and participated in Clay’s Cool and Women Who Woodfire at Clay Gulgong. She is a recipient of the Queensland Education Minister’s Award for Excellence in Art.

2026 BIENNIAL NORTH QUEENSLAND CERAMIC AWARDS

Karen Charlebois A Fragile Resilience, 2026 Stoneware and porcelain Oxides, coloured slips, clear glaze 65 x 28 x 28 cm Image courtesy of the artist.

About the artwork

About the artist

This ceramic piece is a personal response to living in Cape York, shaped by my time in the Aurukun region and the deep impressions left by its landscape. The work reflects the tension I felt daily between the harshness of the environment and its delicate, almost fragile, beauty. The work’s surface carries a series of markings drawn directly from sketches I made while living there—observations of Country, weathered textures, and the quiet rhythms of place. These marks are not decorative; they are traces of lived experience, a record of walking, watching, and learning from the land.

Ceramic artist Karen Charlebois has worked with clay for many years, developing a practice grounded in material exploration, teaching, and community connection. She studied at East Sydney Technical College before graduating from the National Art School in 1994. Karen later co-founded Barefoot Pottery in Sydney, operating the studio until 2000.

Through form and surface, the piece holds both the resilience and vulnerability of the environment, acknowledging the strength of Country while honouring its subtle, intricate details. It stands as a gesture of respect and connection to the powerful, complex landscape that shaped its making.

After relocating to the Bega Valley, Karen taught ceramics at Illawarra TAFE (Bega Campus) for 12 years while continuing to develop her own studio practice. During this time, she expanded her technical knowledge and artistic approach, later completing a Master of Visual Arts at the ANU School of Art & Design in 2011, a period that expanded both her technical skills and the conceptual depth of her work. Following her move to Queensland, Karen’s practice shifted again as she began living and teaching in remote communities across Cape York and the Northern Territory. Working closely with women’s groups and community art centres, she focused on sharing her skills, supporting cultural expression, and developing programs that honour local knowledge and Country. These experiences continue to influence the forms, surfaces, and stories embedded within her work today.

2026 BIENNIAL NORTH QUEENSLAND CERAMIC AWARDS

Bronte Claussen Banksia Continuum, 2026 Recycled clay Glossy turquoise 18 x 8 x 8 cm Image courtesy of the artist.

About the artwork

About the artist

This set of three Japanese‑inspired stackable cups features a hand‑carved sgraffito design of stylised Banksia integrifolia (coast banksia). Across the trio, the carved tree motif extends from one vessel to the next, aligning precisely so the pattern resolves into a single continuous design when the cups are stacked. The exterior is left as raw clay, allowing the natural texture of the material to remain central and to subtly mimic the tactile qualities of Banksia integrifolia, with its matte, slightly rugged surface echoing the tree’s leathery leaves and textured inflorescence. The interiors are glazed in a seafoam blue, evoking the coastal environments in which these trees naturally grow. The contrast between the earthy exterior and the ocean‑inspired glaze reinforces a dialogue between land and sea, form and place.

Bronte Claussen is a ceramic artist based in North Queensland. She creates functional pieces inspired by the textures and forms of coastal landscapes, with her work drawing on the contrast between raw clay bodies and glazes inspired by water. The subject of Bronte’s work stems from doing what she loves— being in nature—and is shaped by her years working in marine and coastal science, where she developed a deep appreciation for coastal environments, and their interconnectedness, resilience, and inherent importance in a changing climate.

2026 BIENNIAL NORTH QUEENSLAND CERAMIC AWARDS

Margaret Crawford Enlightenment, 2026 Midfired stoneware Underglazes and glazes 30 x 18 x 18 (diameter) cm Image courtesy of the artist.

About the artwork

About the artist

Enlightenment draws its inspiration from the lotus, a familiar feature of North Queensland, especially along the Ross River. Rising from the water, the lotus embodies the quiet resilience of life’s journey. From emerging bud to radiant bloom, and finally to seed pod, each stage speaks of growth, maturity, renewal, and the wisdom that comes through experience.

Townsville-based artist Margaret Crawford holds a Diploma in Fine Arts and originally trained as a painter. However, upon working with clay in 2014, she discovered a medium that felt immediately natural and inspiring. As the artist states, “Ceramics opened up new possibilities, allowing me to create both functional and sculptural works, while drawing on many years of experience in painting and printmaking.” Margaret’s practice combines surface design, form, and storytelling, integrating two-dimensional techniques into three-dimensional artworks.

The unfolding life cycle of the lotus reflects our own, reminding us that transformation is continuous and that every stage has its own beauty and purpose. In this work, the lotus becomes a symbol of enlightenment not as a destination, but as an ongoing journey of growth, change, and renewal.

Her work has been recognised through several awards at the Townsville Art Awards, including Overall Winner, Ceramic (2021); Overall Winner, Painting (2018); and 3D Winner, Ceramic (2019, 2020). Margaret’s work is held in the collections of James Cook University, Townsville University Hospital, Barrier Reef Institute of TAFE, and Townsville City Council.

2026 BIENNIAL NORTH QUEENSLAND CERAMIC AWARDS

Kaz Davis Tanked, 2024 Stoneware Stoneware glazes, ceramic pigments Multiple pieces: 12 x 60 x 24.5 cm overall Image courtesy of the artist.

About the artwork

About the artist

Tanked responds to the repeated forms and textures of the storage tanks at Port Botany that I see on car trips to my studio. Waiting at the red traffic light, I observe surfaces formed by the interplay of natural elements, industrial pollutants, gravity, and time. These weathered surfaces suggest both the beauty of decay and poignancy of life’s transience. Layers of pigments and glaze were applied to the clay forms to develop surfaces that reflect feelings evoked by the storage tanks.

Based on Bidjigal land (Sydney), Kaz Davis works with ceramics, drawing, and photography. She completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the College of Fine Arts, UNSW (1991), and an Advanced Diploma of Fine Arts, Meadowbank TAFE (2003). Kaz has been awarded grants from Australia Council (2021), Create NSW (2023 & 2025), and Creative Australia (2024); and won the National Emerging Art Prize, Ceramics (2022). In recent years, her work has been shortlisted for the following prizes: Little Things Art Prize (2018, 2019, 2022, 2025); North Queensland Ceramics Awards (2020, 2022); Meroogal Women’s Art Prize (2020, 2022); National Emerging Art Prize (2021); Gosford Art Prize (2018); and the Woollahra Sculpture Prize (2002). Her solo exhibition at Michael Reid Clay, Sydney, was in May 2024. Curated group exhibitions include Continuum, Noosa Regional Gallery (2026); 11.09.24, Home Gallery, Sydney (2024); Held, Manly Art Gallery & Museum, Sydney (2024); and Salon des Refuses, SH Ervin Gallery, Sydney, 2003. Her work is held in the collections of Morgans Financial and TAFE Northern Sydney Institute, and in private collections.

2026 BIENNIAL NORTH QUEENSLAND CERAMIC AWARDS

Leila Davis Action Heroes, 2025 Midfire clay, glass beads, silver Celadon glaze, matte glaze, oxides Multiple pieces: 28 x 41 x 11 cm overall Image courtesy of the artist.

About the artwork

About the artist

I learned to meditate at Ko-Pan Monastery outside Kathmandu. A lightning bolt of realisation showed me I could choose to cultivate lovingkindness instead of wallowing like a hippo in my own mental mud. The light was there, waiting for me all along. Now I’m aware of the dance in my mind between light and dark forces.

Leila Davis is a ceramic artist based in Meanjin/ Brisbane. Her family travelled widely, and she grew up surrounded by massive Islamic paintings, vibrant Persian carpets, African sculptures, and homemade Byzantine batiks. In 1970s Brisbane, this created a rich paradox of merged and mingling cultures, out of which Leila’s distinct aesthetic developed.

These ceramic sculptures represent the heroes of the story. They are paradoxical, wrathful, fiery forms whose purpose is compassion. Burning up delusion, doubt, and fear, these are the action heroes helping me make my mind a better place. In exploring this theme, I’ve created a pair of wheel-thrown vessels adorned with wings, flames, and celadon glaze. Carving and stamping of each piece uses symbols from the teachings, such as the lotus rising from the mud, cleansing fire, and the green of kindness.

Leila studied ceramics at the Brisbane Institute of Art and currently works out of her home studio on the beautiful slopes of Mount Coot-tha. Her enduring passion is the ceramics of the ancient world, particularly the Near and Far East. In 2025, she undertook a residency in Korea with Master Im Kyeong Mun, learning techniques from the 14thcentury Joseon dynasty. She recently exhibited in the Sogetsu Ikebana Ceramics Competition (2026) and in Form and Flow (2026) at The Brisbane Gallery.

Compassion in action.

2026 BIENNIAL NORTH QUEENSLAND CERAMIC AWARDS

Johanna De Maine and Tatsuya Tsutsui Ukiyo, 2024 Porcelain Celadon glaze 30.5 x 34 x 34 cm Image courtesy of the artist.

About the artwork

About the artist

Ukiyo represents a collaboration between my partner Tatsuya Tsutsui and me. Tatsuya made the form; I contributed the overglaze decoration. Ukiyo explores themes of water and floating.

Born in Holland, Johanna De Maine moved to Australia at a young age and has lived in the UK, Australia, and Japan. Johanna commenced potting in 1971, and since then she has had in excess of 40 solo exhibitions, participated in over 200 group exhibitions, and won numerous awards. Her work is represented in the National Gallery of Australia as well as in public art galleries, museums, and government collections both in Australia and overseas. Her work is in collections of HRH Queen Elizabeth II of England, Crown Prince Frederik and Princess Mary of Denmark, and the Governor General of Australia.

The name of this piece translates as floating/ fleeting/transient world. In its modern usage, the term Ukiyo is used to refer to a state of mind emphasising living in the moment, and being detached from the difficulties of life.

Johanna’s partner, master porcelain artist Tatsuya Tsutsui gravitated to ceramics after completing a degree in oil painting at Musashino Art University, Tokyo. The two live and work between Meringandan West in Toowoomba and Kyushu in Japan. As well as making collaborative work, the two have individual practices.

2026 BIENNIAL NORTH QUEENSLAND CERAMIC AWARDS

Tony Di Giacomo Green with Envy, 2026 Porcelain Crystalline 43.5 x 18 x 18 cm Image courtesy of the artist.

About the artwork

About the artist

This tall vase was thrown in two sections, then precisely combined. Trimming allows the shape to be further refined, and creating the right curves is very important to me.

Interested in pottery from the age of 18, Tony Di Giacomo turned his serious attention to it after retiring from teaching in 2016. Since then, he has enjoyed great success; he has been selected to exhibit in the North Queensland Ceramics Awards for the past five consecutive iterations, and won the 3D section of the Townsville Art Society Art Awards (2021, 2022, 2023). He also won the ceramic section of the Hinchinbrook Art Award (2022).

Covering the piece with a crystalline glaze transforms it; there is a science in making a crystalline glaze work, and I strive to understand this process so that the glaze creates a work of nature to enhance the piece. This piece features a number of large crystals grown over many hours in an electric kiln, then etched in acid.

In 2026, he participated in the Perc Tucker Gallery exhibition In the Heart of the North, Part 2.

2026 BIENNIAL NORTH QUEENSLAND CERAMIC AWARDS

Fliss Dodd

About the artwork

About the artist

Stronger Together, 2025 Stoneware and black clay Coloured slips, sgraffito carving, clear glaze, red thread, gold kintsugi Multiple pieces: 44 x 40 x 28 cm overall Image courtesy of the artist.

Stronger Together celebrates connection. Two semi-abstract bulls stand side by side in a quiet, rhythmic dialogue that speaks to the power of simply being there for one another. They do not touch, yet between them exists a silent dance. That space is intentional: it is where support lives. This is not dependency, but presence.

Fliss Dodd is a sculptor living on Yuin Country, NSW. She studied Ceramics at the ANU School of Art & Design, where she fell in love with hand building pottery, under the tutelage of Hiroe Swen. Dodd’s sculptural pieces are all independent characters that unfold as she creates from slabs of clay. Born from a deep fascination with other cultures and their reverence to the bull, ceremonies, rituals, and story, they hold a sense of calmness, courage, connectedness, and rhythm.

Across cultures and throughout history, the bull has been revered through ceremony, ritual, and myth. Its paradox of strength alongside curiosity and gentleness has long captivated me and finds its form in my work. By using two different coloured clay bodies and black-and-white coloured slips, and carving intricate sgraffito meditative marks, I aim to create a sense of balance and rhythm within the pieces. To be stronger together is not about being the same. It is about standing close, holding your own, and letting that be enough.

Nature and ceremony are elucidated by Fliss’s considered suggestions that play through her mind, manifestly abstract bull forms, and anthropomorphic characters, with their own particular and nuanced offerings to time and place. Fliss’s manner of working is best described as deeply intimate, making small meditative marks on select pieces. The addition of the symbolic red thread is inspired from travels to Asia, signifying a form of protection and staying connected to the spiritual world. Fliss has exhibited with Michael Reid Galleries in Newport, Murrurundi, and Sydney as well as Sydney Contemporary (2022). She has been a finalist in the National Emerging Art Prize (2021), Muswellbrook Art Prize (2022), The Alice Prize (2024), National Emerging Art Prize (2024), and The Little Things Art Prize (2025). In August 2025, she was accepted for the 12th International Ceramic Symposium in Changchun, China, where she worked alongside 19 other artists from around the world. Her work is held in the Changchun International Ceramic gallery and numerous private collections, both internationally and nationally.

2026 BIENNIAL NORTH QUEENSLAND CERAMIC AWARDS

Kate Dorrough Ancient Language of the River, 2025 Stoneware Shino glaze and underglaze 34 x 28 x 36 cm Image courtesy of the artist. Photograph by Jenni Carter.

About the artwork

About the artist

This vessel, modelled after an ancient container or holder of water, celebrates the potency of the river. Inscribed with a calligraphic language, it speaks of the innate knowledge and rights of the river. The hand-built stoneware ceramic surface, a palimpsest of multiple layering of glaze and numerous firings, becomes a fusion of iron oxide with the clay body and glaze. This layered history acknowledges the need to understand the river in order to work with this vital, cyclical, and elemental force.

Sydney-based artist Kate Dorrough has been exhibiting since 1996, and has held 23 solo exhibitions throughout Australia and over 100 group exhibitions in regional and city galleries. A recent highlight was the touring exhibition Heather + Kate Dorrough: Lineage (2023/2024) at Manly Art Gallery & Museum, Manning Regional Gallery, Tamworth Regional Gallery, and Ararat Galleries. Kate has been selected for the North Queensland, Gold Coast, and Clunes Ceramic Awards, the Small Sculpture Prize, Ravenswood, Meroogal, Northern Beaches Environmental Art & Design Award, Still Life Award, and the Australian Ceramic Association’s Course of Objects: the fine lines of inquiry, at the Manly Art Gallery & Museum (2014). Kate exhibited her work and presented a paper at the 2025 Australian Ceramic Triennale, Fremantle. Her ceramic work is held in many regional and university art gallery collections. She is represented by Art House Gallery, Sydney.

2026 BIENNIAL NORTH QUEENSLAND CERAMIC AWARDS

Darian Duan

About the artwork

Blue Memory, 2026 Porcelain High-fired glaze 70 x 18 x 17 cm Image courtesy of the artist. Photograph by Jiwu Zhao.

Blue Memory originates from the interaction created through the deep intervention of painting into porcelain. The work begins by establishing porcelain as a three-dimensional painting surface. In doing so, the artist moves beyond the conventional constraints of porcelain craft. This disruption does not signify the end of the work; rather, it becomes an integral part of the process through which a new work comes into being. Cobalt-blue glaze flows across the porcelain surface under the force of gravity, generating physical traces that cannot be entirely controlled. Painting then further intervenes in the process. Through cutting and disruption performed with the spontaneity of a painterly gesture, the knife enters directly into the porcelain body. These incisions interrupt the existing structure and visual continuity, while the white lines left by the blade simultaneously disrupt and reorganise the image. Cracks, incisions and the flowing movement of the glaze allow the work to continually evolve between control and chance, ultimately generating the visual structure of “white lines against a blue ground.” Through this process, porcelain is no longer merely a surface upon which painting is carried. Instead, it becomes a medium capable of generating its own visual and material meaning. About the artist Darian Duan is a contemporary porcelain and painting artist born in China and based in Melbourne, Australia. He holds a PhD in Aesthetics and is a

recipient of the ILIRIKA Award. His work is held in the collection of the National Museum of Slovenia. In recent years, he has participated in a range of significant artistic projects and exhibitions, including Melbourne Art Fair, Melbourne Ceramic Art Fair, UNICUM 2026 (6th International Ceramics Triennial), and other international exhibitions. Duan believes that the essence of art lies in the human being—including the human spirit, thought and nature. For him, freedom is both the starting point of his artistic logic and the goal towards which his practice strives. In contemporary society, the control of the spirit, the constraints imposed upon thought, and the greed inherent in human nature have created division and intensified confrontation. Freedom has become increasingly difficult to attain. Duan believes that the conviction of art, combined with critical reflection and passionate expression, may offer a way to break through these constraints and reclaim a sense of freedom. In his porcelain practice, Duan explores how porcelain can move beyond its traditional associations with craft and decoration to become a contemporary artistic medium with an autonomous visual language. From this inquiry, he has developed his methodology of “Destruction as Regeneration,” seeking to establish a bridge between the classical and the contemporary. By bringing painting into dialogue with experimental porcelain processes, he investigates uncertainty, structural disruption and material transformation. For Duan, “destruction” is not a simple rejection of history or tradition. Rather, it is a form of continuity—carrying what has been inherited forward while opening it to transformation. Its logical outcome is the “regeneration” of a contemporary spiritual structure.

2026 BIENNIAL NORTH QUEENSLAND CERAMIC AWARDS

Darian Duan

About the artwork

The Blue Opening, 2026 Porcelain Shadow green glaze 24 x 43 x 43 cm Image courtesy of the artist. Photograph by Jiwu Zhao.

The Blue Opening continues Darian Duan’s exploration of the relationship between painting and porcelain, moving towards a freer expression of the spirit. The work reconsiders the possibilities of porcelain as an artistic medium. Porcelain is no longer understood simply as a completed and formed object, but as a process that continually undergoes transformation, disruption and reconstruction, generating new spatial relationships. Through the interaction of porcelain, glaze, painterly gesture, cutting and firing, the final visual result incorporates both the artist’s deliberate control and the contingencies introduced by material and fire. Through this interaction, porcelain moves beyond its classical status as a craft material and becomes a contemporary artistic “spiritual structure.” Within this process, destruction is not understood as damage to porcelain, but as a generative force. The work consequently becomes an experimental field for uncertainty, structural transformation and material transfiguration. About the artist Darian Duan is a contemporary porcelain and painting artist born in China and based in Melbourne, Australia. He holds a PhD in Aesthetics and is a recipient of the ILIRIKA Award. His work is held in the collection of the National Museum of Slovenia. In recent years, he has participated in a range of significant artistic projects and exhibitions, including Melbourne Art Fair, Melbourne Ceramic Art Fair, UNICUM 2026 (6th International Ceramics Triennial), and other international exhibitions.

Duan believes that the essence of art lies in the human being—including the human spirit, thought and nature. For him, freedom is both the starting point of his artistic logic and the goal towards which his practice strives. In contemporary society, the control of the spirit, the constraints imposed upon thought, and the greed inherent in human nature have created division and intensified confrontation. Freedom has become increasingly difficult to attain. Duan believes that the conviction of art, combined with critical reflection and passionate expression, may offer a way to break through these constraints and reclaim a sense of freedom. In his porcelain practice, Duan explores how porcelain can move beyond its traditional associations with craft and decoration to become a contemporary artistic medium with an autonomous visual language. From this inquiry, he has developed his methodology of “Destruction as Regeneration,” seeking to establish a bridge between the classical and the contemporary. By bringing painting into dialogue with experimental porcelain processes, he investigates uncertainty, structural disruption and material transformation. For Duan, “destruction” is not a simple rejection of history or tradition. Rather, it is a form of continuity—carrying what has been inherited forward while opening it to transformation. Its logical outcome is the “regeneration” of a contemporary spiritual structure.

2026 BIENNIAL NORTH QUEENSLAND CERAMIC AWARDS

Carolyn Folland Civilisation Lost, 2026 Stoneware Combination of stoneware glazes, black matte, magnesium matte and iron-speckle gloss 50 x 48 x 20 cm Image courtesy of the artist. Photograph by Jennifer Hillhouse.

About the artwork

About the artist

Civilisation Lost evokes the intrigue and apprehension of an alien discovery. The circular form could indicate a meteor, shaped and scarred as it burned through the atmosphere. Or perhaps it’s an ancient instrument—something ceremonial, now long forgotten and unlikely to be played again?

Carolyn Folland is an emerging ceramicist based between Meanjin/Brisbane and the Bundjalung/ Tweed Valley. Carolyn has developed her own technique of throwing vessels on the wheel and randomly tearing the forms and sculpting them together over moulds. The changing thickness of the layers determines the sculpted motifs, and draping invites gravity to further stretch and form new contours. Carolyn is inspired by the wildness and beauty of rock formations. Using her hands to work with the resistance and capitulation of the clay, she channels the forces of wind, water, heat, and gravity that form these natural forms.

The erratic textures and weathered, blistered surface give the piece a fossilised look and feel, and the rough metal stand adds an urgency: quickly cobbled together to display this strange discovery before a baffled public. What is it and where did it come from?

Carolyn has studied for 10 years under the mentorship of Ray Cavill at Clayschool Brisbane. She prefers experimentation and has recently committed full time to her ceramic practice. In 2026, she was a Finalist in the North Coast Ceramics Surface Award and participated in Clay’s Cool exhibition at the Clay Gulgong Ceramics Conference, NSW. In collaboration with Jaimee Pickles, she was a finalist for the Ross Creek Infusion Prize in August 2026.

2026 BIENNIAL NORTH QUEENSLAND CERAMIC AWARDS

Carol Forster Life Cycle of Plants, 2025 Midfire clay Underglaze and midfired glazes Multiple pieces: 31 x 46 x 32 cm overall Image courtesy of the artist.

About the artwork

About the artist

This body of work uses imaginative ceramic forms to trace the life cycle of plants—from seed to plant to seed. A deliberate sequence of parts moves from one stage to the next, tracing growth and renewal as a visual narrative. Textures and colours recall pods, bark and seeds, linking the tactile to the symbolic. Wheel-thrown forms, combined with hand-built and moulded elements, give rise to an interlocking module: a compact seed capsule, a branch, a stem and a final seed-bearing unit that will continue the cycle. Through this continuum of growth, the work proposes renewal as a continuous act, a quiet assertion that life persists through change.

Carol Forster draws inspiration from the natural environment surrounding her, with her ceramics reflecting her love for nature and a commitment to preserving its beauty for future generations. Carol’s work often embodies a playful spirit, interwoven with a more serious undertone that invites contemplation. As she says: “Each sculptural piece I create is a testament to the joy and challenge of working with clay—an exploration of form, texture, colour and the interplay of light and shadow.” Teaching ceramics, sculpture, printmaking, and design has been a significant chapter in Carol’s career, allowing her to share her passion and insights with emerging and established artists alike. Through her art, she aspires not only to celebrate the beauty of the natural world but also to inspire others to recognise the importance of its preservation. As a multi-award-winning artist, her work is represented in numerous public and private collections, both nationally and internationally.

2026 BIENNIAL NORTH QUEENSLAND CERAMIC AWARDS

Rosie Frecheville Pink Pots, 2024 Mahogany midfire, cool ice porcelain, black midfire Clear gloss glaze Multiple pieces: 15 x 20 x 15 cm overall Image courtesy of the artist.

About the artwork

About the artist

This work is inspired by Olive Muriel Pink (1884– 1975), an anthropologist who spent most of her life working in Central Australia. She was an activist, a prolific letter writer, an avid painter of botanicals, and a gardener. After spending years in Central Australia and hearing of Pink, I was drawn deeper into her life through viewing an archive of her artwork and letters.

Rosie Frecheville is an emerging artist who is currently studying at the University of Tasmania’s School of Creative Arts and Media. After growing up on Gunaikurnai Country in East Gippsland, Rosie has lived and worked in Melbourne, overseas and in Central Australia. Her work focuses on people and place, interpreting these themes through ceramics and printmaking.

The form of these wheel-thrown pots references 1900s penny inkwells and are made from mahogany midfire clay. The inside of the pots is glazed with clear gloss to allude to the presence of ink. The hand-built sculptural components are formed with ‘Cool Ice’ porcelain and are unglazed. They maintain the print of my palm to reflect the feeling of human connection through time.

2026 BIENNIAL NORTH QUEENSLAND CERAMIC AWARDS

Jordan Gower Meteora, 2026 Stoneware Carnauba wax, manganese saturate glaze 14.4 x 31.5 x 32 cm Image courtesy of the artist. Photograph by Connor Patterson.

About the artwork

About the artist

Meteora takes its name from the ancient Greek word metéōros, meaning ‘lofty’ or ‘suspended in the air’, which was used particularly in reference to monasteries that came to be built upon towering stone pillars. It also makes vivid reference to cosmic mineral bodies and their relationship to ceramic chemistry. In this work, the form resembles a cratered void left after asteroid impact. The rim catches light and circles down towards the base, with the body finished in a metallic glaze reminiscent of specular meteoric surfaces. With a narrow foot and wide flared walls, Meteora is scaled in a way more for the eyes than the hands, and pays homage to the pillars of ceramic history that informed it.

Jordan Gower is a South Australian ceramic artist and Head of Ceramics at JamFactory, Tarntanya/Adelaide. He holds an Honours degree from the University of South Australia, where he received a Merit Award for Academic Excellence in 2013, following a Bachelor of Visual Arts at TAFE SA Adelaide College of the Arts. Jordan’s career spans exhibition practice, production ceramics, and arts leadership. Trained in ceramics through the JamFactory Associate Development Program (2016–17), he received a mentorship with porcelain wheel thrower Phil Elson, and has also completed residencies in Singapore, Japan, Tasmania, Victoria, and South Australia. Jordan has received development grants through Arts South Australia and Create SA (2019, 2026) and was selected as a finalist in the Siliceous Award for Ceramic Excellence (2025). In September 2026, he will open his first major solo exhibition at UNSW Galleries, as a collateral exhibition for Sydney Design Week and Sydney Contemporary.

2026 BIENNIAL NORTH QUEENSLAND CERAMIC AWARDS

Phil Greed Calx_holding memories, 2026 Lumina and black midfire clay Satin white and clear glazes, gold lustre and calcined coral Multiple pieces: 16 x 76 x 76 cm overall Image courtesy of the artist. Photograph by Brendan Ray.

About the artwork

About the artist

I return to the still life as a place to hold what slips away. A quiet circle of ceramic vessels rests in stillness, their surfaces pale as bone, dark as earth, and touched with gold. They are formed from calcium and calcium carbonate, the same mineral traces found in shells, coral, and the hidden architecture of our bones. These vessels speak to the body’s aging, fragility, and resilience.

Phil Greed currently lives and works in Safety Beach, NSW, on Gumbaynggirr Land. He holds a Bachelor of Arts (Ceramic Design) from Caulfield Institute of Technology, Melbourne, and a Graduate Diploma in Vocational Education and Training from Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW. Since moving to the Coffs Harbour area in 1983, Phil has been a ceramic maker and educator, including working for 35 years with TAFE NSW in a range of teaching and leadership roles. He is a founding member of Coastal ClayMakers Inc., established in 2003 to promote ceramics in the region.

The arrangement suggests a gathering, with each form carrying the presence of parents, elders, and lives shaped by time. Though motionless, the vessels reflect light, memory, and the quiet dignity of loss. Through these forms, I reflect on my parents, on love and absence, and on the slow sediment of memory. They become small cosmoses, honouring care, endurance, and the traces that remain after a life well lived.

Phil has established multiple studio workshops, producing functional and sculptural work, exhibiting regularly with selected galleries in Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney, and the NSW North Coast. He is represented in private and public collections and recently won the STILL: National Still Life Coffs Coast Award at Yarilla Arts and Museums with his work Calx_what goes around and also received the Gwyn Hanssen Pigott Award at The Australian Ceramics Association Continuum exhibition in Noosa.

2026 BIENNIAL NORTH QUEENSLAND CERAMIC AWARDS

Anna Guthrie Changing Terrain, 2026 Earthenware Soda base and lithium glaze 47 x 7 x 7 cm Image courtesy of the artist.

About the artwork

About the artist

This vessel forms part of my ongoing ‘Changing Terrain’ series, exploring how place is carried through material. The clay was collected from a Moreton Bay building site for new homes before excavation, preserving a fragment of a landscape undergoing continual change in the area around my home and studio. As this land has shifted from bushland to farmland, rural living and now to suburban development, the vessel becomes a quiet repository for those successive histories. Deep atmospheric layered glazes recall the lichen, moss, and weathered earth that has now been removed, not as a direct representation, but as an evocation of the landscape from which the material came. The work acknowledges change and offers welcome to the new people who now live in this area with me.

Anna Guthrie is an artist based just north of Meanjin/ Brisbane, whose practice is centred on walking as both a creative and research methodology. Currently a doctoral candidate at the Queensland College of Art and Design, Griffith University, Anna channels her walking experiences into her making. Through sustained engagement with the landscapes of Moreton Bay, Anna investigates how material holds memory and how it can reveal changing relationships with place. Working primarily with low-fired ceramics and plantdyed textiles, Anna has been a finalist multiple times in the Moreton Bay Art Prize, a finalist in the 2022 North Queensland Ceramic Award (exhibiting as Anna Turnbull), received the Highly Commended Emerging Artist Award at the Queensland Regional Art Awards from Fiona Foley in 2023, and was a finalist in the Siliceous Award for Ceramic Excellence. Guthrie has completed public art commissions mapping environmental aspects of Moreton Bay and regularly facilitates community-based workshops in ceramics, visual arts, and creative practice.

2026 BIENNIAL NORTH QUEENSLAND CERAMIC AWARDS

Shaun Hayes You Can’t Have Your Cake and Eat It Too, 2024 Midfire clay Layered glazes 30 x 20 x 7 cm Image courtesy of the artist. Photograph by Bryna Bamberry.

About the artwork

About the artist

You Can’t Have Your Cake and Eat It Too examines the uneasy relationship between beauty, consumption, and waste. Through a series of vessel-like sculptures, discarded plastic objects are transformed into enduring ceramic forms that elevate the familiar while exposing the lasting consequences of disposable culture. Cliché, familiarity, and repetition become tools for examining the overlooked rituals of everyday consumption, with each vessel acting as both a repository and record of contemporary life. Through careful arrangement, collage, and a restrained tonal palette, mundane objects are reimagined as artefacts that invite closer inspection. The work reflects the tension between permanence and impermanence, revealing how materials designed for convenience can outlast generations. Subtle recycling symbols embedded within the sculptures speak to both hope and futility, questioning the promises of sustainability while encouraging viewers to reconsider their relationship with plastic and the enduring legacy of consumerism.

Shaun Hayes is a ceramic artist based in Ngario Country (Captains Flat, NSW), whose practice explores the intersection of memory, material, and environmental consciousness. Transforming discarded plastic objects into enduring ceramic sculptures, Shaun challenges perceptions of value, permanence, and waste. His work combines nostalgia and humour to encourage reflection on the everyday objects we consume, overlook, and discard. Shaun completed a Bachelor of Arts (Visual) with Honours in Ceramics at the ANU School of Art & Design in 2013. In 2023, he exhibited in Jingdezhen, China. His achievements include winning the Muswellbrook Art Prize, Ceramics (2024); being a finalist in the Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize (2020); and exhibiting with Stanley Street Gallery at the Sydney Contemporary Art Fair (2018, 2023, 2024) and at the Melbourne Design Fair (2023).

2026 BIENNIAL NORTH QUEENSLAND CERAMIC AWARDS

Stephanie Henricks Vestige, 2026 Midfire clay Terra sigillata 31 x 15 x 15 cm Image courtesy of the artist. Photograph by Stephanie Henricks.

About the artwork

About the artist

Vestige records the ephemeral atmospheric conditions of a sawdust firing permanently in clay. The smooth and delicate terra sigillata provides a luminous surface upon which smoke and ash settle. The overall effect is painterly and evocative of the soft tonality of the Renaissance sfumato technique.

Stephanie Henricks is an emerging ceramic artist based in Meanjin/Brisbane. She has a Bachelor of Arts (Visual Arts) from the Queensland University of Technology. Stephanie has participated in several group exhibitions in Brisbane. As an extension to her ceramics practice, she has contributed articles to the Ceramic Arts Queensland Quarterly Bulletin magazine, The Journal of Australian Ceramics, and Ceramics Now magazine.

Sfumato, from the Italian sfumare (‘to evaporate like smoke’), is a painting technique that creates subtle, almost imperceptible, transitions between light and shadow. It is achieved through successive layers of thinly applied paint. Vestige’s surface was created over multiple firings, with each leaving similarly subtle traces, accumulating into a soft, atmospheric whole. The vessel bears the direct trace of an unrepeatable convergence between clay, smoke, heat, air, and time, preserving an irretrievable transient event.

Recently, her work has been selected for Surface, North Coast Ceramics’ Annual Award for Contemporary Ceramic Excellence (2026); and Continuum, The Australian Ceramic Association Members’ exhibition (2026). Stephanie’s porcelain work Flora was acquired by the Museum of Brisbane in 2023.

2026 BIENNIAL NORTH QUEENSLAND CERAMIC AWARDS

Kalyanii Holden The Black Dingo, 2024 Midfire clay Glaze, underglaze, ash, gold lustre, slip 51 x 28 x 28 cm Image courtesy of the artist. About the artwork

About the artist

The Black Dingo is a clay representation of the native black dingo I witnessed on a misty morning walk in Meanjin, on Turrbal land.

Kalyanii Holden is an Australian multidisciplinary artist working across ceramics, photography and creative writing. She is based in Meanjin on Turrbal Country.

The sky was clear and the air was crisp; the path was lined with wattle as it was in the throes of winter. The dingo, bold and beauteous, stood unafraid in front of me on my morning walk with my cattle dog pup. It stood there frozen, looking at me for what seemed like a very long time, both of us held to place through each other’s gaze. It then disappeared into the bush silently like it had arrived. In Aboriginal culture, the dingo represents spiritual and physical protectors and guardians serving as a sacred bridge between this world and the spirit world. I pondered over who was visiting me today from beyond the veil, and what were they trying to convey.

Kalyanii hand builds sculptural clay works, using a range of techniques, and materials including underglaze, slip, oxides, ash, glass and lustres. She often works into her forms while leather hard, so she can add texture and colour directly into the clay body.

Wattle has been pressed into the sculpture to connect the work to place where I encountered the black dingo.

Kalyanii’s practice explores themes of nostalgia, connection to place, and memories from her childhood of growing up in both urban and natural environments. Her work is a form of embodied story telling that holds memories of the past, ideas about the present and possible futures. Kalyanii has exhibited in 40 collaborative exhibitions and four solo shows, throughout Queensland, NSW and Berlin. She has been a finalist in The National Photographic Portrait Prize (2021), the Olive Cotton Awards (2019, 2021, 2025), Siliceous Award for ceramic excellence (2023, 2025), Australian Photography Awards (2026) and The Brisbane Portrait Prize (2025) to name a few. Over the past 12 years of working in ceramics, Kalyanii has developed her blue dog series based on her own cattle dog. Her sculptures and photographic works are held in both public and private collections within Australia and worldwide.

2026 BIENNIAL NORTH QUEENSLAND CERAMIC AWARDS

Thea Katauskas The Gods, 2026 Midfire clay Hand painted underglaze, satin, gloss glazes Multiple pieces: 62 x 40 x 12 cm overall Image courtesy of the artist.

About the artwork

About the artist

The Gods is an homage to birdlife and all the wisdom, song, and joy that birds contribute to our lives. I am intrigued by the endless variety of forms, colours, patterns, and plumage we can see if we look to birds, and try to capture something of the character, delicate beauty, and power of these creatures. These are only three of many gods being created as an ongoing project. I will continue to work with spontaneous slab clay forms, applying drawn patterns to clay, and experimenting with combinations of sculptural form and colour to see what bird spirits visit me next.

Thea Katauskas is a Canberra-based multidisciplinary artist working mainly in sculpture and painting. She has been creating imaginary bird characters in ceramic form since 2019, and remains inspired by museum specimens, wildlife photography, and her local environment. In 2025 she exhibited paintings and sculptural works in the Birdland show at Walkway Gallery, South Australia, following an artist’s residency in South Australia to observe the Bool Lagoon–protected wetlands and birdlife. She regularly exhibits her sculptures at Grainger Gallery in Canberra. Trained in sculpture and printmaking, Thea has held various solo exhibitions of paintings, sculpture, and prints in Bordertown, Canberra, Brisbane, and Switzerland. Her works are held in private collections in USA, UK, Australia, France, and Switzerland.

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Aisha Kennett Between Tides, 2026 Stoneware Underglaze, transparent glaze 26 x 10 x 10 cm Image courtesy of the artist.

About the artwork

About the artist

Between Tides is inspired by the intertidal zone. Each rock is home to a dense community of sea anemones, barnacles, algae, crabs and countless other marine organisms. Through sgraffito lines and shifting blue tones, the work celebrates the richness of this constantly changing ecosystem and invites viewers to slow down and discover the life hidden within.

Aisha Kennett is a ceramic and printmaking artist based in Gimuy/Cairns. Inspired by the unique ecosystems of Far North Queensland, her practice explores the interconnected relationships between species and their environments through ceramic vessels and sculpture. She combines traditional ceramic techniques with a printmaker’s approach to surface and composition. Aisha completed her Diploma of Visual Arts in 2025. Her work has been exhibited in regional and national exhibitions across Australia and has been selected as a finalist in the Omnia Art Prize (2026), Siliceous Award for Ceramic Excellence (2025), and Feel Good Art Prize (2025). She won the Ceramics category at the 9th Hinchinbrook Birdlife Art Awards (2024) and has received First Place awards at the Cairns Show for three consecutive years (2024–2026).

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Aisha Kennett Migrating II, 2026 Stoneware Transparent glaze, matte glaze, underglaze 23 x 19 x 10 cm Image courtesy of the artist.

About the artwork

About the artist

Migrating II explores the movement of spotted eagle rays through ocean currents. Drawing on my lino cut printmaking practice, I applied layered colours to create depth before carving back the surface using sgraffito. The flowing carved lines suggest the invisible currents that guide migration. Spotted eagle rays are found throughout tropical oceans, including the waters of Far North Queensland. This work reflects the interconnected relationship between marine life and the dynamic ecosystems that shape their journeys.

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Janetta Kerr-Grant Breakwater, 2025 Porcelain Coloured slips and engobes 14 x 34 x 2 cm Image courtesy of the artist. Photograph by Deborah Garrett.

About the artwork

About the artist

This porcelain wall-based work captures the exhilaration of standing on a rocky outcrop on a stormy summer’s day, with the foamy whitewash continually, rhythmically, breaking over the wet slippery rocks. Thin washes of colour build to create a layered, textured surface, distilling my memories and evoking a strong sense of place.

Janetta Kerr-Grant is a Naarm/Melbourne based ceramicist inspired by landscape, atmosphere and memory. She uses clay like a diary to transcribe her surroundings. Locality is a touchstone; she often returns to the same stretch of coastline, or the innercity creeks near where she lives, to forge a deeper connection. Janetta graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (First Class Honours) from RMIT University in 2012, majoring in Ceramics, and in 2013 was awarded an Australia Council Art Start Grant. She has undertaken residencies in Japan and Finland. Janetta has exhibited widely in Australia in public and commercial galleries, including Manly Art Gallery, McClelland Art Gallery, Craft Victoria, Gosford Regional Gallery, Bett Gallery, Perc Tucker Gallery, and Stockroom Gallery. In 2018 she won the Klytie Pate Ceramic Award. Her work is held in the collections of RMIT University, the Manningham Art Gallery, and the Fiskars Artist in Residence Collection, Finland.

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Juyeon Kim Saekdong Vase, 2026 Stoneware Midfire glaze, lustre glaze 37 x 30 x 30 cm Image courtesy of the artist.

About the artwork

About the artist

Inspired by the bold simplicity of Brutalism, I approach each ceramic piece as a microarchitectural project. Saekdong Vase focuses on the intersection of rigid structural forms and the rhythmic beauty of traditional Korean aesthetics. I utilised the Saekdong colour palette, typically found in traditional Korean dress, to define the various planes and surfaces of the structure. By assigning different colours to each ‘wall’ of the ceramic body, I have transformed a static object into a vibrant, multifaceted architectural form that celebrates both global modernism and my personal cultural identity.

Juyeon Kim is a contemporary ceramic artist based in Melbourne. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Chung-Ang University and a Diploma of Family Counselling. Her practice merges technical mastery with a deep exploration of the human psyche, translating internal states into evocative, organic ceramic forms. Kim’s professional standing is highlighted by her selection as a Finalist for the fortyfivedownstairs Emerging Artist Award (2023) and the Vivid Design Competition (2025). Her work has been widely showcased, including at the Melbourne Ceramic Fair (2024) and the Brisbane Affordable Art Fair (2026). Through her sculptures, Kim invites a dialogue between the self and the other, creating pieces that resonate with emotional depth. Her works are held in private collections and continue to bridge the gap between fine art, contemporary design, and psychological inquiry.

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Michelle Le Plastrier Malware Detected, 2024 Midfire clay Underglaze, glaze 27 x 20 x 26 cm Image courtesy of the artist.

About the artwork

About the artist

Malware Detected imagines a digital threat made tangible, escaping the confines of the screen. A tentacled creature emerges from a retro ceramic monitor, embodying the invisible dangers that lurk within our increasingly technology-dependent lives. The work comments on the rapidly evolving landscape of scams, data leaks, AI impersonation, and malware, making it increasingly difficult to keep up and stay safe in the digital realm.

Michelle Le Plastrier is a Gold Coast–based multidisciplinary artist with a focus on hand-built ceramics, who explores identity, socio-political, and environmental issues all in her signature candycoloured style. Michelle teaches introductory ceramics across South-East Queensland and has exhibited and produced workshops for galleries, councils, and businesses across Australia.

Using retro-futurism to examine the way we simultaneously progress forwards and regress backwards, it highlights how technological progress is often accompanied by new vulnerabilities. By giving these intangible risks physical form, the work explores the collapsing boundary between virtual and lived experience.

Michelle was artist-in-residence through HOTA’s inaugural ArtKeeper program in 2021–22, and exhibited her body of work Dopamine Days at HOTA in 2023–24. In 2023, she won the Environmental Art Award at the Queensland Regional Art Awards and was a finalist in the previous two iterations of the North Queensland Ceramic Awards at Perc Tucker Regional Gallery (2022, 2024).

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Cintia Yamane Lemann Gassho, 2025 Midfire clay Unglazed 39 x 17 x 20 cm Image courtesy of the artist.

About the artwork

About the artist

Gassho, which is Japanese for ‘palms together in the chest’ (a sign of respect), is part of the ‘Symbiosis’ series. I explore two perspectives in relation to the work. The first is as a sculpture. I explore the empty space and the perceptions formed by a structure. Inspired by the Japanese concept of ma, where an in-between ‘empty’ space is the container of all its possibilities. The second is as a functional piece: the relationship between form and function. Does the added function change the perception of the piece from a sculpture to a vase? If so, is it still art, or is it now a design or a craft piece?

Cintia Yamane Lemann is a Brazilian of Japanese descent living in Mittagong, NSW. Her work is deeply influenced by her background in architecture and design, as well as the practice of Aikido— with a special appreciation of Dō, the guiding philosophy for martial arts and crafts in Japan.

By adding a possible function, my intention is to shift the focus from the container/structure to the symbiosis between content and container, with each highlighting the other in perfect harmony. In Gassho, the ‘empty’ space suggests a sense of reverence, inner peace, and gratitude.

In her work, Cintia explores the essence of form as a way to synthesise her various influences. She started making ceramics in 2013, studying and later working at Sturt Craft Centre as a pottery technician before establishing her own studio in 2021. In clay, Cintia found a place where design, art, and craft can meet: the convergence of form and functionality; skill and exploration; innovation and tradition; the mix of cultures. Cintia has been a finalist in several awards, including the Siliceous Award for Excellence in Ceramics (2023) and a Highly Commended Award at the Bowral Sculptural Prize (2024). Her first solo exhibition at the SHAC (Southern Highlands Artisans Collective) in 2025 sold out.

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Jooyun Lim Hide and Seek, 2026 Stoneware Cone 6 multiple glaze 27 x 25 x 23 cm Image courtesy of the artist.

About the artwork

About the artist

I endure the day like a nocturnal animal that curls up as much as possible to protect myself and waits for it to get dark. My vision is blurry and faint, but I am still in search of something that is only visible to me. My unconscious mind is completely awake, like a wild animal. Carefully lowering myself as low as possible in a place where no one can see me, I hold my breath for as long as possible in case I get hurt.

Jooyun Lim, originally from Seoul, Korea, moved to Australia over a decade ago after completing her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ceramic Arts. Inspired by the tranquillity of rural Queensland, she finds motivation in her natural surroundings, away from the competitiveness of her homeland. As a migrant in Australia, her work delivers her personal thoughts and experiences. The theme about her work included culture diverse and the range of human emotions as well as nature.

‘The object-I’ is symbolised by the same shape of pattern, and the object—the ego—wanders from place to place and puts myself into a ‘three-dimensional object’ symbolising ‘the environment’. ‘The object-I’ remains the same, but they change and look different depending on the environment, and maybe real changes will occur.

She often creates hand-built or wheel-thrown ceramics, slip cast to make the body, and carving or inlaying to add details. She also uses glass in her sculptural work. She has been a finalist and exhibited in statewide art awards, including Queensland Regional Art Awards as well as holding solo exhibitions in Victoria and Queensland.

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Chrystie Longworth Mangrove Sentinel, 2026 Found sea tumbled bricks, terracotta, crawling glaze, steel Crawling glaze Multiple pieces: 25 x 25 x 30 cm overall Image courtesy of the artist.

About the artwork

About the artist

Mangrove Sentinel comprises hand-thrown and altered terracotta forms alongside sea-tumbled brick fragments I have collected from my local beach on Dharawal Country. Weathered by tide and time, the found bricks evoke the remnants of human habitation, recalling clay’s enduring role in shelter, infrastructure, and community. By bringing together crafted ceramic forms and reclaimed ceramic material, the work blurs the boundary between construction and erosion.

Chrystie Longworth is an artist based on Dharawal Country, NSW. Originally trained in Printmaking, Chrystie completed a Master of Fine Art (Ceramics) at the National Art School, Sydney, in 2024. Her ceramics have been exhibited in various Australian galleries, such as Sabbia Gallery, Sydney; MARS Gallery, Melbourne; Sturt Gallery, Mittagong, NSW; and Michael Reid Gallery, Sydney. Her functional pieces have been sold through the design stores of the Australian Design Centre, the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; and Greenhouse Interiors, Geelong.

Through this sculpture, I reflect on the steady expansion of suburban development into fragile coastal ecosystems, where the built environment increasingly intersects with natural systems. Positioned as both monument and warning, Mangrove Sentinel encourages us to consider humanity’s place within landscapes shaped by forces far greater than ourselves. Rather than presenting nature as passive, the work acknowledges its continual capacity to erode, transform, and reclaim, reminding us that our interventions are ultimately temporary within longer ecological and geological cycles.

In April 2026, Chrystie had a solo show titled Suburban Squall at Sabbia Gallery and in September 2026, her solo exhibition Sediment Stories will open at Boom Gallery in Geelong. Chrystie has recently been a finalist in the Shelly Simpson Ceramics Prize (2025) and the Northern Beaches Environmental Art Prize (2025 & 2026). She is the recipient of the N.E. Pethebridge Ceramic Award (2024) and also received an Honourable Mention in Hornsby Council’s Reimagine Art Prize (2025).

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Lachlan Mackee Two Seasons, 2026 Indian stoneware clay with native feldspar Natural fly-ash and flame markings Multiple pieces: 9 x 24 x 13 cm overall Image courtesy of the artist.

About the artwork

About the artist

Two Seasons is the latest in a series of ceramic objects, in which I am exploring how international tea cultures can converge; for example, Japaneseinspired forms made and fired in India. The project began in 2024 during my training at Golden Bridge Pottery, sparked by daily chai breaks where students, potters, and teachers gathered to escape the heat and to share community. That ritual sparked a broader curiosity: how shared drinking vessels quietly hold communities together across cultures.

Lachlan MacKee is an emerging ceramic artist based in Gimuy/Cairns, whose vessels and sculptural forms are shaped as much by fire as by hand. At the heart of his practice sits wood firing, not as a last step but as a genuine collaborator— one whose flame, ash, and unpredictability help decide what each piece becomes.

The two tea bowls in Two Seasons form a bonded pair. Without a traditional ‘front side’, the work invites the user to rotate the bowl for comfort, prioritising connection over ceremony. Both were shaped from the same local clay, then wood-fired in different locations within the kiln, each settling into its own zone of heat and ash. Two Seasons captures that shared origin and divergent outcome, echoing my practice moving between international research and building a home studio in Australia.

Since training in production ceramics in India in 2024, Lachlan has travelled widely, seeking out wood kilns and the tight-knit communities gathering around them. In turn, those connections shape his work: pieces made for communion and everyday connection, their final character is never fully his to control. On his property in the Atherton Tablelands, Lachlan is building and experimenting with kilns, translating his research into locally sourced materials. He also teaches ceramics at Cairns TAFE, passing on wood-firing knowledge to the next generation of local makers.

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Jason Mak Wu Lou of Sun, 2026 Stoneware Ash glaze in wood fire 23 x 18 x 18 cm Image courtesy of the artist.

About the artwork

About the artist

Wu Lou of Sun draws from the traditional gourd form, a symbol of protection and continuity in my heritage, and carries that meaning through the unpredictable alchemy of anagama wood firing. Over several days in the kiln, the vessel was shaped by flame, ash, and time, with the surface recording every shift in atmosphere. The ash settled and melted into a natural glaze, creating warm orange blooms and soft grey flame marks that feel like sunlight and shadow captured directly on the clay.

Jason Mak is a ceramic artist and one half of YELLOWOSOPHY, a ceramic duo offering a bright world where sunlight, myth, and gentle optimism shape every form. His practice blends materiality and glaze technology with myths, creating vessels, patterns and sculptural beings that feel subconscious yet cerebral. Jason’s work—which draws from his connection to the oceans, geology, cosmologies, and his personal heritage—often features organic forms, porcelain shells, and tide‑born figures. Each piece is an object that glows with confidence and joy.

For me, Wu Lou of Sun is a moment of myth making rooted in joy and optimism, symbolising a protective gourd touched by flame, carrying the delight of chance, the warmth of flame, and the belief that beauty can emerge from unpredictability.

Jason recently won Second Place at the 2026 Sydney Royal Easter Show and was selected as a participant in the 2026 Clay Gulgong Throwdown Under, affirming his growing presence in Australia’s ceramic landscape. His sculptures sit at the intersection of whimsy and reverence, offering viewers a moment of curiosity and sun‑lit joy.

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Denine Mark Bound Within, 2026 Stoneware Stoneware glaze, underglaze and oxide 30 x 32 x 32 cm Image courtesy of the artist.

About the artwork

About the artist

Bound Within represents the female body as a vessel of creation and transformation. While my daughter was pregnant with her first child, she experienced many emotions outside of the normal everyday feelings. The suspended words express the contrasting emotions experienced during her pregnancy, while the serpent flowing through the centre symbolises fertility, growth, and renewal. The connecting chains represent the shared experiences and bodily changes that bind women across cultures and generations, while the dark glaze signifies the mystery of new life, the unknown aspects that women experience, and the strength, resilience and endurance women embody throughout this profound journey. The glossy surface captures the light, suggesting hope and joy emerging from within darkness, as portrayed by the suspended words.

Discovering her love for pottery in high school, Denine Mark undertook ceramics classes again in 2024. Completing a Planning degree in 2023 gave her an appreciation of the materials used in clays and glazes; the history humans have with ceramics; and the environmental impact humans can have from mining these materials—therefore, she is very conscious in her recycling and wastage. Denine works alongside her husband in Umbra Ignis Ceramics, where they create their own glazes, and fire in both reduction and oxidation gas atmospheres. Bound Within marks Denine’s first entry into a formal competition.

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Gillian Martin Daydream, 2026 Stoneware Terra sigillata and white gloss glaze inside 45 x 45 x 25.5 cm Image courtesy of the artist.

About the artwork

About the artist

Repeated linear bands of varying colour emphasise the curved form of Daydream, defining its shape. Through form, surface, and material, the vessel prompts us to consider how pattern can clarify structure. The pattern works with the form rather than as decoration, highlighting proportion and structure. The material qualities of the clay remain visible, with small variations showing the making and firing process.

Gillian Martin is a ceramic artist based in Naarm/ Melbourne. While she has a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Ceramics), she pursued a career in photography before returning to ceramics. Working primarily on the potter’s wheel, her practice explores organic ceramic forms and surface design, using coloured terra sigillata stripes to accentuate their curves and volumes. Inspired by nature, landscapes, and memory, her abstract forms reflect the colours, rhythms, and atmosphere of the natural world. Combining planning and instinct, Gillian shapes each form to balance structure, movement, and surface detail. In 2025, she completed a four-month artist residency at Edinburgh Ceramics Workshop, where she developed new work and presented a solo exhibition. The experience expanded her practice through new influences, materials, and creative exchange. Gillian has been selected as a finalist in a number of ceramic and art awards.

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Gillian Martin Sweetest Thing, 2026 Stoneware Striped terra sigillata 22 x 22 x 16 cm Image courtesy of the artist.

About the artwork

About the artist

This contained ceramic form is composed of two enclosed shapes balanced one above the other. A rounded lower body supports a smaller oval form connected by a narrow neck, creating a harmonious and sculptural silhouette. Continuous horizontal stripes wrap around the curves, enhancing the sense of volume, rhythm and movement. Layers of yellow, orange, coral, grey, black and white highlight the changing contours, while the simple, symmetrical form emphasises balance, proportion and the relationship between surface pattern and three-dimensional shape.

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Alexis Mason Nascence, 2026 Stoneware Engobe glaze 55 x 20 x 20 cm Image courtesy of the artist. Photograph by Connor Patterson.

About the artwork

About the artist

This work explores the concept of nascence: the state of coming into being. The sculpture captures a moment of emergence, where growth, transformation, and potential coexist. Its organic, unfolding contours evoke natural processes of evolution and development. Identity is never static but is continuously shaped through change. The work is a reflection on the liminal space between what is known and what is yet to become, embracing uncertainty as a generative force. In celebrating becoming over completion, the sculpture offers a meditation on the quiet, persistent unfolding that underpins both nature and the human experience.

Alexis Mason is an emerging ceramic artist living and working as an Associate at JamFactory on Kaurna Country in Adelaide, South Australia. Her practice explores the material and spiritual interconnection of the natural world through an intuitive engagement with clay, where forms emerge through a slow, responsive process. Each mark generates the next, echoing patterns of growth, erosion, and time. Alexis’s biomorphic vessels draw on both landscape and the human body, with their surfaces holding a sense of vitality and movement. Her work maintains a sensitivity to touch, inviting a physical encounter that reinforces connection between body, material, and environment.

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Moraig McKenna Under My Skin III, 2026 Stoneware Wood-fired salt glazed with underglaze transfers, porcelain slip and ash glaze 31 x 15 x 24 cm Image courtesy of the artist. Photograph by David Paterson.

About the artwork

About the artist

This work explores how our life experiences and accumulated knowledge are internalised, embodied, and ultimately expressed through creative practice. Over the past 10 years, I have travelled frequently to China, and the incredible diversity, deep history, and contemporary expression of Chinese ceramics have had a profound influence on my work. You could say that these experiences have truly seeped in ‘under my skin’.

Moraig McKenna is an accomplished ceramic artist currently based in Gundaroo, NSW. She has been working with clay since 1991, specialising in wood-fired and salt-glazed porcelain and stoneware. Moraig holds a Bachelor of Education from Melbourne University and a Master of Arts by Research from Southern Cross University.

Hand-built from large slabs of stoneware clay, Under My Skin III has been decorated with layers of surface texture, cobalt underglaze, and porcelain slip, then wood-fired and salt-glazed. The making and firing processes alternately reveal and obscure these layers, creating an interplay between presence and absence. The clay surface records experience and the passage of time, much like human skin or a landscape reveals the traces of what has been endured. Each mark and surface variation writes a unique narrative, reflecting the object’s journey and my experience as the maker.

Her contributions to the field have been acknowledged through her recent acceptance as a member of the International Academy of Ceramics and Accredited Professional Membership with Craft + Design Canberra. Moraig has earned several prestigious awards, including the Janet Mansfield Merit Award for Wood Fired Ceramics (2026), the Doug Alexander Award (2024), and the Art Unlimited Ceramics Award (2019). She exhibits her work regularly, both in Australia and internationally. Her pieces are featured in public collections of the Canberra Museum and Gallery and Taoxichuan Ceramic Art Avenue, China, and held in private collections in the USA, Singapore, and Australia.

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Jade Menzies Have they changed me?, 2025 White raku Underglaze, gloss glaze 29 x 22.5 x 28.5 cm Image courtesy of the artist.

About the artwork

About the artist

Have they changed me? is my deeply personal attempt at creating a physical representation of the severe and crushing societal pressures faced by teenagers in modern environments. The expectations to comply to strict and unhealthy beauty standards often result in young people feeling inadequate in the eyes of society. The vessel is a physical embodiment of how I see myself, covered in the eyes of those who are unforgiving and unbelievably harsh, and torn apart by the society that promised to welcome me. Finally, the black cracks that are created from somewhere dark within myself, represent my withering self-confidence and crumbling composure, and are constantly growing and leeching further across anything that is bright and unbroken. Through this representation, I truly hope to help society understand the severity of its gaze, not in the naive assumption that it will soften, but in the hope that society will gain some awareness.

Jade Menzies is a 16-year-old student based in Townsville, who works with ceramics, sculpture, and painting. Through her artwork, she likes to explore her experience of living as a teenager in today’s hyperconnected world, and the difficulties that come with learning to live independently as a young adult. While she is currently still in high school, she hopes to pursue a career in art or design in the future. For the moment, however, she will continue to express herself creatively and will continue to experiment with different mediums to find her true passion.

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moo Remembering to Breathe (3), 2026 Multiple recycled/reclaimed clays Multiple slips, underglazes, oxides, glazes 41.5 x 30 x 10 cm Image courtesy of the artist. Photograph by Awena Daniel.

About the artwork

About the artist

Finding quiet in a busy life is like standing still within a throng of rushing people and seeing the tranquillity in the chaos of the blur. This vessel stands strong when viewed from the front or rear, but nearly disappears when viewed from the sides, adaptable to the space and whims of the world around it—a bit like me.

Sam Matthews, aka ‘moo’, is a ceramic artist residing in Far North Queensland (FNQ). Her works are inspired by the natural environment, with a focus on immersion in, interaction with, and discovery of, a sense of place and peace within it.

Remembering to Breathe (3) is made from ‘leftover’ clay—scraps from bags and already decorated remnants from previous works. By utilising this clay, I am making do and maximising my limited resources, with minimal reconstituting. I chose to fire the work in 1100°C heat to consume less energy, because the world consumes too much and it is also kinder on my precious kiln. The lower firing temperature means I can’t rely on heat for the development of interesting surfaces, forcing me to improvise with shape, texture and mark making.

After moving to FNQ in her early 20s, Sam has made her home in various rural and forested areas throughout the Douglas Shire, further strengthening her connection to the region’s landscapes. Sam has initiated, coordinated, and co-designed several large-scale community art mosaic projects, managing resources and people, liaising with stakeholders, tutoring participants, and collaborating with other established local artists. In the last couple of years, Sam has participated in several group exhibitions with Port Douglas Artists Inc, which has greatly contributed to her growth as an artist. In 2025, Sam entered the QLD Regional Art Awards, winning the Remote Artist Award—an achievement she sees as a transformative opportunity.

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Donalee Moriarty Equisetifolia, 2026 Stoneware Satin-matte glaze 41 x 31 x 31 cm Image courtesy of the artist.

About the artwork

About the artist

This work explores the quiet strength and beauty of coastal flora, using the form of seed cones from the Casuarina equisetifolia (coastal she-oak). The repeating layers and pointed forms on the body of the work suggest the botanical shape and structure of the she-oak’s seed cones, which are both protective in function and architectural in form. The rust-coloured glaze reflects the weathered coastal environment of the tree, as an earthy surface treatment reminiscent of sand, bark, and salt-worn materials. Resilience shaped by exposure and endurance can also be strong and beautiful.

Donalee Moriarty is a ceramic artist based in Ipswich, Queensland, whose practice is centred on experimenting with clays and firing processes, drawing inspiration from architectural and natural forms, as well as weathered surfaces and textures. Donalee holds a Master of Environmental Management, and is currently completing a Master of Visual Arts at the Queensland College of Art and Design, Griffith University. Her practice involves various hand-building techniques at her home studio. She has previously been a finalist in several awards, including the National Emerging Art Prize (2024), the North Queensland Ceramic Awards (2022), and the Siliceous Award for Ceramic Excellence (2023). She is looking forward to being part of an upcoming exhibition Brutalist/Baroque at the Ipswich Art Gallery (September – November 2026).

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Jude Muduioa Quiet Assembly, 2025 LGH stoneware Celadon, oribe, wood ash from a 75 hour wood firing 50 x 50 x 7 cm Image courtesy of the artist.

About the artwork Quiet Assembly began with observations of reef systems in North Queensland and the complex structures that emerge through accumulation. Built from many small vessel forms joined into a circular arrangement, the work balances on a single point of support. Individually, each element appears modest; together, they create a structure that is both stable and precarious. As the work developed, I became interested in the relationships between the forms. No single vessel dominates. Instead, the piece relies on the contribution of each part, with meaning emerging through their interdependence. While informed by systems in nature, Quiet Assembly also reflects those between humans. Families, friendships, and communities are sustained through countless small acts that often go unnoticed. Like the forms within the work, their strength depends less on individual elements than on the connections between them. What appears stable is rarely independent; the balance appears effortless until it isn’t.

About the artist Jude Muduioa is a Meanjin/Brisbanebased contemporary ceramic sculptor whose practice engages clay and material processes to examine themes of belonging, memory, care and collective experience. Through repetition, accumulation and the transformation of ceramic forms, she produces sculptural works that reflect on how individual lives are shaped by and remain entangled with broader social and environmental contexts. Her practice considers the often-unseen structures that sustain communities, and the capacity of material to hold and communicate narratives of connection, resilience, and change. Jude Muduioa has exhibited throughout Australia and in the USA. In 2026, she presented the solo exhibition Correspondence at Canberra Design and Craft, was selected as a finalist for the UNLEASHED exhibition at HOTA, undertook the Ipswich Artist Residency, and was a mentee in The SCCA Path Mentorship Program with Kellie O’Dempsey. In 2025, she presented the solo exhibition Fragments That Hold at Artisan and exhibited in ARTificial Intelligence at Webb Gallery, Griffith University. She was awarded the Emerging Artist Prize at the North Coast Ceramic Awards (2025), and was also a finalist in the SWELL Small Sculpture Prize (2025), the Siliceous Award for Ceramic Excellence (2025), and the North Queensland Ceramic Awards (2024).

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Marlize Myburgh Almost, Between, 2026 Midfire clay and copper Oxides, engobes and matte glazes Multiple pieces: 25 x 25 x 25 cm overall Image courtesy of the artist.

About the artwork

About the artist

Almost, Between investigates the tension between proximity and restraint through ceramic sculpture. Two forms—one larger, one smaller—curve toward each other, suspended in a moment of near contact. Layered, scale‑like surfaces reflect growth, protection and the accumulation of time through repeated gesture, while small copper accents mark points of anticipated connection that remain unresolved. Grounded in material exploration and organic abstraction, the work embodies my emerging practice of examining relational spaces: how memories of connection are carried in form and surface, and how closeness can be sustained without touch, held in quiet suspension.

Marlize Myburgh is a ceramic and mixed-media artist living and working in Naarm/Melbourne. Originally from South Africa, her practice explores the capacity of clay for retention and transformation through sculptural forms, material processes and organic structures. Marlize holds a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art (Jewellery Design and Metal Technique) from Stellenbosch University, and an Advanced Diploma of Engineering (Jewellery Design) and Diploma of Arts (Ceramics) from Box Hill Institute, Melbourne. Marlize has undertaken artist residencies at Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, Salamanca Arts Centre in Hobart, and Faenza Art Ceramic Centre in Italy. Her work has been exhibited nationally at venues including Montsalvat, Manly Art Gallery & Museum, and Gallery Lowe and Lee. Recent accolades include Winner of the Korowa Ceramic Art Prize (Sculpture Category) (2026); the Ruth Petersen Award (2025), Highly Commended at the Deakin University Contemporary Small Sculpture Award (2025); and the Sydney Teapot Show Natural World Award (2024).

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Marlize Myburgh Carried in Shape, 2026 Stoneware and porcelain Glaze, matte texture underglaze, naked porcelain 35 x 34 x 21 cm Image courtesy of the artist.

About the artwork

About the artist

This form holds a quiet tension—armoured, yet not closed. Layered surfaces gather like sediment or memory, each mark a trace of movement and becoming. The outer skin protects, but also conceals. Within, a fragile porcelain growth emerges—soft, searching, insistent. It gestures toward an unseen interior: intimate, vulnerable, alive. The work lingers between containment and release, where protection becomes both shelter and barrier, and transformation unfolds slowly, from the inside out.

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Kim Nolan When I was a Kid, 2026 Midfire black clay, lumina porcelain and white raku Stain and oxide washes Multiple pieces: 12 x 28 x 12 cm overall Image courtsey of the artist.

About the artwork

About the artist

When I was a child, my mother would take my sisters and me to the family farm in Aotearoa New Zealand to collect horse mushrooms for our dinner. I was in awe of these beautiful giant mushrooms; something about their soft texture, colours, and smell of the earth drew my curiosity and imagination.

Kim Nolan has recently relocated to Tulmur/Ipswich, having previously lived in Far North Queensland (FNQ) for many years. She has a Diploma in Hot Glass and Design, and studied Ceramics for four years at TAFE Cairns. In her exhibition Moments at Northsite Contemporary Arts, Kim celebrated living in FNQ by sharing her research photographs taken over a period of eight years and exhibiting 21 sculptural forms created in response to the images, highlighting the environment she loved.

In the hand-building process, it was important for me to keep the materials minimal to create realistic mushrooms. I’ve used three different types of clay: midfire black for the gills, lumina porcelain for the soft skin, and white raku for the stalks and the skin’s texture. Pink body stain, rutile and titanium oxide as washes for additional colour. Creating layers within my work is important to me and I will often sand back through these layers, seeking the patterns that are revealed.

When Kim moved to Ipswich in 2025, she set up a new studio and began to emerge herself in the unknown landscape with less rainfall, no sea, but still with its own beauty. Kim’s work Magpie Moth was selected to exhibit in The Australian Ceramic Association’s members exhibition Continuum in July 2026. She loves to challenge herself to create multilayered sculptural work that prompts the viewer to ask questions or that challenges their thinking.

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Susan Nuttall Ariadne’s Thread, 2026 Buff raku sandy (BRS) Interior: oxidation to Cone 6. Exterior: unglazed Multiple pieces: 9 x 30 x 28 cm overall Images courtesy of the artist.

About the artwork

About the artist

Ariadne’s Thread reimagines the Greek myth and explores ideas of containment, navigation, and freedom. Seven hand-carved cups, while each asserting their own identity, assemble in a labyrinth-like form, inviting the viewer to consider the interconnectivity of the forms.

Susan Nuttall grew up in North Queensland in a home filled with her mother’s hand-made ceramics and with enduring memories of backyard pit firings. Her own ceramic practice began in London in 2017, after completing a BTech Level 3, and continues today in Perth.

The cups’ rough-hewn unglazed exteriors contrast starkly with the deeply luminous saturatedblue glazed interiors. From a single outer cup, a narrow stream of glaze escapes and flows down (or up) the outside, echoing Ariadne’s thread— the lifeline that enabled Theseus to navigate the maze. This escaped line becomes a physical trace that connects the inner with the outer. The small, coloured dots on the rims read as markers or signposts throughout the labyrinth, providing the blueprint for its assembly and navigation.

Drawing inspiration from vessels and stories of antiquity, Susan hand-builds ceramic forms that echo these ancient forms while carrying contemporary narratives and motifs. The resulting body of work occupies a space between sculpture and utility, where practicality often becomes secondary to storytelling. She has participated in several exhibitions, including Fired up (2021) and Before 10 After 5 (2025), and was a finalist in the previous North Queensland Ceramic Awards (2024).

Ariadne’s Thread reflects on the near impossibility of complete containment and suggests that often the simplest act can provide the best solution to a problem.

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Lina Ocolisan Silent Fractures, 2024 Porcelain Slip cast with textured glaze Multiple pieces: 58 x 44 x 42 cm overall Image courtesy of the artist. Photograph by Greg Piper.

About the artwork

About the artist

Silent Fractures is a series of sculptural forms influenced by the current narrative of genderbased violence. The works explore the fragile duality between our public personas and private selves, and serve as a metaphor for the hidden, often unspoken, realities of trauma and the resilience of those who endure it.

Lina Ocolisan is a Sydney-based ceramic artist whose sculptural forms and vessels explore life, identity, and the human experience. Raised in Arnhem Land and influenced by a multicultural background, her work reflects a deep curiosity about the personal, social, and cultural experiences that shape who we become. Working predominantly with porcelain, Lina explores the material’s delicate balance between strength and fragility. Using unorthodox slip-casting techniques, she deliberately deconstructs and disrupts textured plaster moulds, creating forms that reveal fractures, distortions, and imperfections. These marks are embraced as metaphors for vulnerability, resilience, and the complexities of life. For Lina, clay becomes a quiet storyteller—a way to give form to unseen experiences and to honour the strength found within imperfection. Lina has been recognised as a finalist in numerous Australian art prizes, including the Siliceous Award for Ceramic Excellence Award (2025), Muswellbrook Art Prize (2026), and her work has appeared in several national exhibitions.

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Emma J V Parker Lost, 2026 Porcelain Underglaze 47 x 12 x 38 cm Image courtesy of the artist.

About the artwork

About the artist

I’m a recent immigrant who is enjoying getting lost in Australian culture and history. Peeling layers and fascinated by everything I encounter and learn, the density is overwhelming. Everything holds meaning. Observing the structure and colour of native botanicals seamlessly links the landscape with First Nations and colonial histories—whose interconnectedness is hard for me to fathom. In this self-portrait, I am enveloped by them.

A British-born ceramic artist, Emma J V Parker has lived in Naarm/Melbourne since 2018. After earning a Bachelor of Arts Hons (Ceramics) from the University of Wales Institute Cardiff and Master of Fine Arts in 2001, she trained as a teacher and worked with ceramics in arts education for almost 20 years. Emma’s work is informed by a lifelong fascination with storytelling. She is deeply engaged by the notion of narrative through surface decoration and draws upon this in her ceramic practice, imbuing figurative forms with deeper meaning.

In European fairytales, the ‘woods’ have agency: these dark ancient forests with monstrous trees, hidden obstacles, and labyrinthine paths force people to face their fears. They might become a hero or disappear forever. In the same way, the dense Australian bush has the agency to transform, to replenish, or to absorb. The ‘lost child’ is part of Australian iconography; found too late in the hollow of a tree or swallowed up, the trope is symbolic of colonial anxiety. Disappearances are cautionary tales. Complacency and naivety can be fatal.

Local highlights include the solo exhibition The Space In Between at Canberra Potters Society (2022); a residency at Northcote Pottery Supplies (2022); and selection as a finalist in the Clunes Ceramics Award (2022) and Queensland Ceramics Award (2024). Emma is also the winner of the 2025 Klytie Pate Ceramics Award.

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Nicci Parry-Jones Constance, 2025 High-fired stoneware Copper calcium matte glaze 23 x 16 x 10 cm Image courtesy of the artist.

About the artwork

About the artist

As I am a devoted teapot maker and lover of tea, the thought of a continuous pot of tea was very appealing. Giving a nod to Norman Lindsay, creator of The Magic Pudding, this teapot, named Constance (pun intended), was a design challenge: incorporate the infinity symbol while still constructing a teapot form. I threw and entwined three doughnut shapes and decorated in Steampunk style to complement the form.

Nicci Parry-Jones is a full-time professional potter living on Tamborine Mountain, Qld. With an Advanced Diploma of Ceramics and Bachelor of Arts in Art History/Communications from Charles Sturt University, her professional practice spans 30 years, having exhibited in many solo and group exhibitions in NSW, Victoria, and Queensland. She makes an everevolving range of domestic ware, unique teapots, and commissioned work under the brand PJ Pottery. Nicci has become well-known for her unique Steampunk-inspired teapots and has won several awards in the Sydney Teapot Show, including People’s Choice Award in 2024. Nicci has undertaken art residencies in Mexico, USA, Spain, and Malaysia.

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Nicci Parry-Jones Periwinkle, 2025 High-fired stoneware Calcium copper matte glaze 23 x 18 x 12 cm Image courtesy of the artist.

About the artwork

About the artist

Periwinkle is a Steampunk teapot. When I stumbled upon Steampunk, I was instantly enamoured with it. This art style gives free reign to unite an incongruous mix of features: mechanical elements from the Industrial Age, floral designs from the Victorian era, and motifs from punk subculture. These are married together into intriguing designs in fashion, sculpture, and film—and now teapots.

Periwinkle is a fun guy, ready for action in his goggles and cap and enthusiastic disposition. This is a functional (but not hugely practical) teapot.

Nicci has become well-known for her unique Steampunk-inspired teapots and has won several awards in the Sydney Teapot Show, including People’s Choice Award in 2024. Nicci has undertaken art residencies in Mexico, USA, Spain, and Malaysia.

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Julie Pennington Bind, 2026 Black midfire clay Unglazed 37 x 24 x 24 cm Image courtesy of the artist. Photograph by Andrew Sikorsky.

About the artwork

About the artist

During a residency in Japan, I was captivated by shimenawa, woven rice straw ropes that enclose and encircle sacred spaces. The textural quality of the ropes appealed to my interest in woven basketry. The idea of shimenawa binding and securing space aligned with my exploration of the vessel as an enclosed object. For Bind, I began to expand on my coiling technique, twisting and braiding the clay coils, swinging them in a circular motion to enclose and ‘tie off’ the interior space of the form. This work also reflects on ideas around boundaries and enclosure, prompting us to consider spaces that protect and embrace, as well as those that exclude or deny.

Julie Pennington is a Canberra-based artist whose practice explores the subtleties and complexities of pattern and texture through hand-built sculptural works. Her career in the visual arts began in the field of textile design, before pursuing her interest in ceramics and completing a Diploma of Ceramics at Moss Vale TAFE in 2010. Julie has exhibited nationally and internationally and has been a prize winner in several major ceramic competitions, including the Gosford Ceramic Award (2025), North Queensland Award Scott Brickworks Prize (2018), Stanthorpe Art Prize Significant 3D Award (2016). Artbank acquired two works for their collection in 2024, and Alliance Building Group Canberra commissioned two pieces in 2026. Julie has undertaken artist residencies in Australia, Spain, and most recently at Shigaraki Ceramic Cultural Park, Japan, in 2024. Julie is represented by Jennings Kerr Gallery, NSW, where she has had solo shows in 2023, 2024, and 2025.

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Bill Powell Tears of Time, 2026 Stoneware Wood fired temmoku and churn glazed stoneware 56 x 24 x 24 cm Images courtesy of the artist.

About the artwork

About the artist

This stoneware vase was fired for 100 hours in the anagama wood kiln at Middle Pocket Pottery, NSW. Regardless of the interpretation as tears of joy or tears of heartache, time finds a way for our personal and collective emotional processing to heal and sustain the human condition. The featured teardrop handle details have been applied in an asymmetric configuration, symbolising the passing of time. Much like this ceramic piece, we too are often forged in the fires of change.

Gold Coast resident Bill Powell is a graduate of Fine Arts from the University of Southern Queensland. Bill has been a full-time potter for 47 years. He is currently principal artist and owner of CeramX School of Clay & Glass, Gold Coast, and a former President of Ceramic Arts Queensland. Bill is represented by Red Hill Gallery, Brisbane.

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Taryn Powick Winged Vessel, 2026 Stoneware Unglazed 30 x 15 x 14 cm Image courtesy of the artist. Photograph by Pew Pew Studio and Craft + Design Canberra.

About the artwork

About the artist

Built from hand-formed slabs and finished with individually sculpted feathers, this vessel explores the relationship between stillness and movement. Two wings, distinguished by their contrasting colours, animate the form creating a sense of lift and momentum despite the permanence of the fired clay.

Taryn Powick is an emerging ceramic artist based in Canberra. Her sculptural practice is inspired by birds and organic forms, combining handformed feathers, layered surfaces, and contrasting textures to create works that invite slow observation and shifting perspectives. Through curiosity, experimentation, and an intuitive approach to making, Taryn seeks to evoke emotion through her work via movement and a sense of life within the clay.

The third side of the vessel remains smooth and uncluttered, offering a quiet counterpoint to the textured surfaces. This deliberate contrast invites the eye to move between restraint and complexity, stillness and motion, allowing the work to shift depending on the viewer’s perspective. Such subtle changes in perspective allow a static form to feel unexpectedly alive.

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Diane Quick Autobiographical Delirium, 2025 Hand-built slip cast stoneware Underglazes, wallaby blood glaze Multiple pieces: 42 x 21 x 11 cm overall Image courtesy of the artist.

About the artwork

About the artist

This self-portrait vessel, Autobiographical Delirium, explores the human form through the lens of environmental obsession and natural decay. To replicate the tactile sensation of painting on canvas, I incise the surface of the raw greenware before layering slips and underglazes. This physical carving became an addictive, consuming process, immersing myself in the intuitive, meditative rhythms of the sgraffito patterns.

A former graphic designer with a publishing career in Sydney and Fine Art training in Adelaide, Diane Quick transitioned to working full-time with clay three years ago. She creates sculptural and functional pieces that merge autobiographical themes with natural history, deeply inspired by her volunteer work at the Australian Museum.

The resulting figurative shape serves as a human vessel designed to let dying flowers nostalgically bloom, with the wilting flora acting as the figure’s head. While the commercial flower industry is a booming business, fuelled by a social mediadriven desire for short-lived perfection, my goal is to actively enjoy the decay. By holding space for withered blooms, this quiet functional statue challenges our modern aversion to ageing, celebrating the overlooked magic found in the natural life cycle’s inevitable decline.

Her slab, coil, and wheel-thrown techniques are informed by her background in design and printmaking. She employs an intuitive approach to drawing, using sgraffito and underglazes to develop richly patterned, highly detailed surfaces. Diane has been a finalist and won several awards over the years for her graphic designs and ceramics. In 2025 alone, she won the Little Things Art Prize; received Highly Commended for the Halloran Art Prize; and was a finalist in the Sydney Ceramics Market, Urunga Sculpture, Pro Hart Outback, Eckersley’s, and Lethbridge Landscape Prizes. She is currently a finalist in the 3D category of the De Reitz Art Awards 2026.

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Liz Ranger-Craven The Sentinal, 2026 Hand-built stoneware Oxides, underglazes, glaze 43 x 22 x 17 cm Image courtesy of the artist. Photograph by Kyla Ranger.

About the artwork

About the artist

Fairy-wrens frequently use banksia shrubs as vital vantage points and hunting grounds to forage for insects. When paired together, the fairywren and banksia create a powerful symbolic contrast representing vibrant, joyful life flourishing alongside rugged resilience and rebirth. The striking contrast beautifully balances the delicate with indestructible nature of Australia’s fauna and flora. It illustrates that lightness, joy, and freedom can still bloom and find comfort right on top of life’s hardest, most weathered obstacles.

Liz Ranger-Craven immigrated to Australia in 2011 from South Africa and currently resides in Mackay. She studied Fine Art, majoring in printmaking and sculpture, and is primarily a self-taught ceramic artist. Through clay, she discovered a way to best explore her creativity. Over the years, Liz has participated in various exhibitions in South Africa and Australia, and is a recipient of several awards and accolades.

Banksia pods are legendary for their relationship with fire, in that heat mediates a transformation to a new state. In the same way, clay undergoes a transformation in fire.

Liz has been commissioned to do several large public works and private commissions. Her pieces are bold, covered in intricate surface design, detail, and texture. These facets are integral to her work, where form and features relay a narrative. She invites the viewer to take a closer look and to contemplate something often construed as mundane, but is something beautiful. At the core of Liz’s works is an ode to the Earth, highlighting her passion for the conservation of our natural world.

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Arun Sharma Human Vessel Series: Urn, 2025 White stoneware Celadon glaze 28.5 x 21 x 21 cm Image courtesy of the artist.

About the artwork

About the artist

This work is part of my ongoing ‘Human Vessel’ series, which considers the ceramic form as a reflection of the human body and its cycles of use, memory, and transformation. Composed of three interrelated elements—a vessel for ashes, a lid, and a vase for flowers—the work holds both absence and renewal within a single structure.

Arun Sharma is a Sydney-based artist and educator, whose practice spans sculpture, mixed media, and ceramic design. Through both sculptural and functional work, he explores the expressive potential of clay while moving fluidly between art and design. Alongside his independent art practice, he is the founder and director of Kaolin Clay Studios, where he has built a vibrant ceramics community centred on making, learning, and material exploration.

The lower chamber, treated with flowing celadon glaze, suggests the torso and internal movement of the body, while the smoother upper form evokes the head, quiet and resolved. Functioning as both urn and vase, the piece reflects on mortality, ritual, and continuity, where remnants and living matter coexist. Through this duality, the work considers how objects may hold grief and celebration simultaneously, framing the vessel as both a container and marker of ongoing life.

Born in New York, USA, Arun holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Alfred University, USA; a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Washington, USA; and a Master of Arts in Ceramics from Cardiff Metropolitan University, UK. He has lived and worked in the USA, Canada, Japan, Australia, and the UK, where he was awarded a US–UK Fulbright Grant to research the fragmented figure at the National Centre for Ceramic Studies. His work has been exhibited internationally, and he has received numerous grants, awards, and residencies.

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Daniel Skeffington Enduring Legacy, 2026 Porcelain Burnished and high-fired 100 x 40 x 40 cm Image courtesy of the artist.

About the artwork

About the artist

Enduring Legacy is a comment about what is ‘seen’ of an artist after they are gone. We live on in our enduring work; our work is our marker that we have been. Much like a gravestone, our work gives notes and clues as to who we have been, our values, our contribution. We know van Gogh by his images, Hamada by his bowls. Tides will rise until we stop spinning, until the cheesy moon stops glowing, until the sun burns cold. I am an artist of joy, sadness, moments of clarity, pain, resolution, inevitability. I will until I don’t. I leave behind what I’ve made. My gift. In a few centuries, a millennium or two, dig it up, restore, interpret, interrogate. I am a member of a long cohort of artists who once were and are now not, yet live on in their work. Like them, I will leave my legacy. I was here. See me.

Daniel Skeffington is an artist based in Lake McQuarie, NSW. He received an Advanced Diploma Ceramics Hornsby TAFE NSW in 2010, and has participated in multiple group and solo exhibitions in Sydney, Newcastle, Canberra, and Gosford. He has also held exhibitions internationally in Italy, and completed residencies in France (2016) and Canberra (2021). Daniel gives masterclasses and is currently writing a book titled Unlocking Creativity in Ceramics. He is scheduled to hold an exhibition titled Art Discoveries in Saddlers Creek Winery, Hunter Valley, in September 2026, and is a current finalist in the Wollombi Sculpture Festival.

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Casey Anne St John Between Worlds, 2026 Stoneware Underglaze and glaze 105 x 15 x 15 cm Image courtesy of the artist.

About the artwork

About the artist

Between Worlds explores transformation as a state of becoming rather than a singular event. Combining the vessel with architectural and figurative forms, the work draws upon symbolic traditions in which the moth represents metamorphosis, intuition, and movement between seen and unseen worlds. Built entirely by hand using traditional coil-building techniques, every relief and ornament records the slow accumulation of labour, allowing the process of making to become embedded within the finished object. Rather than presenting transformation as dramatic or instantaneous, the work suggests that change unfolds gradually through sustained attention, resilience, and the quiet forces that shape both the object and the maker over time.

Casey Anne St John is a Sydney-based ceramic artist creating hand-built sculptural vessels using traditional coil-building techniques. She holds a Diploma of Ceramics from Gymea TAFE and was awarded the Award of Highest Excellence upon graduation in 2019. Her work has been exhibited in the National Emerging Art Prize, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery’s Trail Blazers exhibition, Clifton School of Arts’ Presence, and numerous group exhibitions across NSW. Casey has completed private commissions for collectors in Australia and internationally, and her practice explores memory, transformation, architecture, and the natural world through contemporary ceramic sculpture. She is currently expanding her practice towards larger sculptural and installation-based works.

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Neridah Stockley Blue Fence, 2026 Stoneware Underglaze and glaze 13.5 x 25 x 12 cm Image courtesy of the artist.

About the artwork

About the artist

Clay offers me a way to realise architectural forms that I am often drawn to. It also acts as a drawing support; much like paper, clay is where I can apply marks of varying thickness and play with tonal values, working with a minimal palette. Ongoing motifs in my practice include landscape and domestic environments, including buildings, roof lines, shadows, fences, and the sky. I enjoy quiet spaces and leaving out the noise.

Based in Tasmania, NSW-born Neridah Stockley trained at the National Art School in Sydney, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2001. Neridah is a multidisciplinary artist who draws, paints, and makes ceramics. Neridah has held 28 solo exhibitions and has been shortlisted for many art prizes, including the Gurguis New Art Prize, The Glover Prize, Adelaide Perry Drawing Prize, and the Alice Prize. Her work is held in numerous collections, including Macquarie Group, Artbank, Parliament House Canberra, Newcastle Art Gallery, and Charles Darwin University. In 2020, the Newcastle University Gallery curated a survey exhibition Neridah Stockley: A Secular View, which toured nationally. Having spent 20 years living in the Northern Territory, Neridah co-curated Clay on Country, an Artback NT national touring survey exhibition of ceramics practice featuring over 35 artists and collectives from the Central Desert. It opened at the 16th Australian Ceramics Triennale, Apmere Mparntwe, held in Alice Springs in 2022.

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Sarah Therese Little Garden, 2026 Porcelain Copper-tinted crackle glaze 8 x 34 x 12 cm Image courtesy of the artist.

About the artwork

About the artist

Little Garden is inspired by the flowers and bees that fill pots on the deck of my Sunshine Coast home. Daisies, dianthus, echinacea, and ivy may seem ordinary, but together they create a small, living ecosystem. Since childhood, I have been drawn to delicate flowers. I like to think nature made flowers beautiful and appealing to humans so we would continue growing them, creating spaces that support pollinators and benefit our wider environment.

Sarah Therese is a ceramic artist based on the Sunshine Coast, working primarily in porcelain. Inspired by the beauty and fragility of the natural world, she creates wheel-thrown vessels embellished with hand-sculpted botanical forms and intricate surface decoration.

Working in porcelain, I have hand-sculpted each flower and bee while steadily building the vessel’s surface. This slow process reminds me of nature’s fragility and the importance of protecting it. I hope this piece celebrates the idea that even the smallest gardens can make a positive contribution to our world.

Sarah has been a finalist in the Siliceous Ceramics Award (2021) and the North Queensland Ceramic Awards (2022), and she undertook a three-week ceramic residency in South Korea in 2024. Her work has also been exhibited at Quixotica Art Space, Martin Hanson Memorial Art Awards, and Noosa Open Studios. Alongside her studio practice, Sarah has held significant arts leadership and management roles, drawing on her many years of experience to support artists, galleries, and creative organisations. Her work celebrates the quiet beauty of nature while encouraging a deeper appreciation of the ecosystems that sustain us.

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Geoff Thomas Anagama Jar, 2025 Stoneware Natural ash glaze 41 x 30 x 30 cm Image courtesy of the artist.

About the artwork

About the artist

This pot has no underlying context. It is simply the result of the selection of materials, the limitations of the available wood for firing, and my experience. The process is as, if not more, important than the result, and if the result connects with people, then that is all I can hope for.

Based in central New South Wales (NSW), Geoff Thomas has over 50 years of experience making pots alongside running a commercial farm. Primarily self-taught, Geoff has occasionally undertaken some weekend and summer schools with a wide range of Australian and international potters. He has been a member of Clay Gulgong for over 30 years, and participated in numerous group exhibitions. Selected solo exhibitions include Playing with Fire, Kerrie Lowe Gallery, Newtown, NSW; and All About the Material, Western Plains Cultural Centre, Dubbo, NSW.

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Wendy Thurgate The Golden Mean, 2026 White porcelain Black mid-fire clay with white and black celadon glazes and gold lustre over glaze Multiple pieces: 42 x 42 x 26 cm overall Image courtesy of the artist. Photograph by Robin Hearfield.

About the artwork

About the artist

One idea behind the making of this grouping is the ‘golden ratio’ or phi. Proportions have always been something important in my ceramics, but I have never considered using a mathematical equation to enhance the aesthetics of my work. Due to the sometimes unpredictability and shrinkage of clay, my version of phi may not strictly adhere to the rules of the Pythagoreans. But I did try.

Wendy Thurgate is a ceramic artist, born and raised in Townsville, but calls Sydney home. She has an Associate Diploma of Ceramics from St George TAFE, Sydney (1995), and a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Ceramics) from the National Art School, Sydney (2005). Her work is often shaped by Wendy’s immediate surroundings—either where she is living or has travelled to, and the natural environment in which these places exist. More recently, her work is being influenced by movement in dance, inspired from childhood memories of taking ballet, as well as her love of throwing on the potter’s wheel. Wendy has worked with painters she greatly admires, such as John Olsen, Peter Godwin, and Ann Thomson.

The other consideration for these pieces is movement—inspired by my lifelong love of dance. The pots themselves are static, so I wanted to contrast this with a sense of lift, light, fluidity, and movement in the decoration.

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Susan Trimble Not Made for a Cage, 2026 Mahogany midfire clay, white raku, with leather cord Gloss glazes, gold lustre and oxide washes over sgrafittoed coloured slip 31 x 17 x 18 cm Image courtesy of the artist. Photograph by Robyn Wood.

About the artwork

About the artist

Not Made for a Cage reflects on the courage required to live beyond inherited expectations and limiting narratives. Hand-built in midfire mahogany clay and white raku clay, the amphora form holds an intended tension between confinement and release. Within the vessel, gentle lines carved through slip suggest an interior world of reflection, understanding, and forgiveness. On the exterior, energetic mark-making describes a more robust relationship with the external world.

Susan Trimble is a South African–born emerging ceramic artist based in Meanjin/Brisbane. She immigrated to Australia as a teenager in 1983, studied graphic design, and spent three decades working in the field before discovering ceramics in 2020. Susan found an affinity for clay and a love for the ceramic process, and now works from her home studio in Camp Hill, developing handbuilt ceramic forms that draw on her love of the natural world and reflect her commitment to craftsmanship and the transformative power of art.

Coloured slip, oxide washes, glazes, and flashes of gold lustre create a richly layered surface, while two finches (with lustred beaks from speaking their truths) weave leather cord and golden thread around the cinched neck of the vessel. Their quiet, determined labour transforms this symbol of containment into one of connection, agency and possibility. Not Made for a Cage celebrates a life shaped by passion, purpose, courage, and self-awareness.

Susan has participated in 21 group exhibitions and was a finalist in the 2024 North Queensland Ceramic Award. Early in 2026, she was awarded Studio-on-Brunswick’s IVAP Accelerator Award and was selected for The Australian Ceramic Association’s Continuum exhibition at Noosa Regional Gallery. She will return to Artisans in the Gardens, Sydney, in October 2026 and is developing a new body of work for a solo show in June 2027.

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Jen-Chin (Anna) Tsui One Form, Three Futures, 2026 Stoneware Cone 10 multiple glazes Multiple pieces: 18 x 32 x 10 cm overall Image courtesy of the artist.

About the artwork

About the artist

This work began with three almost identical wheel-thrown vessels based on a traditional vase form. Rather than treating the completed form as an endpoint, I compressed, cut, displaced, and reassembled each vessel by hand, allowing a single archetype to evolve into three distinct identities.

Jen-Chin (Anna) Tsui began her ceramics practice in 2020 in Brisbane. With a background in interior design, her work is informed by an interest in architecture, structure, and spatial relationships. Rather than adhering to traditional ceramic forms, Jen-Chin is drawn to experimentation, using clay as a medium to investigate transformation, construction, and form-making.

The process of deconstruction and reconstruction challenges the conventional expectation of symmetry, function and perfection in ceramics. By disrupting the original form and rebuilding it through intuitive making, the work explores transformation as a creative strategy. Each vessel retains traces of its shared origin while presenting a unique visual language. Together, the three forms suggest that within every established structure lies the potential for endless variation, reinvention, and new possibilities.

Her practice integrates contemporary design thinking with hand-built and wheel-thrown processes, seeking new possibilities within familiar forms. Through cutting, reconfiguring, and reconstructing, Jen-Chin explore how objects can evolve beyond their original identity. In 2025, she began exhibiting through national awards and was honoured to be shortlisted for both the Siliceous Award and the Klytie Pate Ceramics Award. For her, ceramics is both a material practice and a means of expressing ideas through form, structure, and design.

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Caroline Walker-Grime Escarpment Vases, 2026 Stoneware and wild clay Stoneware glaze Multiple pieces: 18 x 36 x 17 cm overall Image courtesy of the artist. Photograph by Awena Daniel.

About the artwork

About the artist

Living among the Far North Queensland rainforest, trees and an awe-inspiring geological landscape surround my house. My daily dog walk takes me past rock faces splitting and breaking down in our harsh, wet climate but still supporting the ancient ever-changing forest. The Kurinuki method fits with the theme of this piece and is a contrast to my wheel-thrown work.

British-born artist Caroline Walker-Grime currently lives in Port Douglas. She has an MA in Fine Art (Printmaking) from the UK, but has been making ceramics for 30 years. Since immigrating to Australia in 2004, she has exhibited her work nationally in group and solo shows and worked in contemporary art gallery management in Canberra.

During Cyclone Jasper, there was a massive landslip of clay in my street, some of which I collected and have used in my work. I mixed a little of this clay into the stoneware for the making of these pieces, so that they contain some essence of earth they represent.

Working in various clay bodies, Caroline’s ceramics are influenced by the verdant and sometimes harsh surrounds of her Port Douglas home, as well as pieces evoking personal family history memories. Caroline has won awards in the Gold Coast, Cairns, and Adelaide, and been a finalist in previous North Queensland Ceramic awards. An active member of the art community in Port Douglas, where she teaches and exhibits, Caroline is currently working towards a solo show in Atherton next year.

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Amber Winter Solidarity VI, 2026 Porcelain Crystalline glaze, ash 19 x 13 x 14 cm Image courtesy of the artist.

About the artwork

About the artist

Solidarity VI is part of a series exploring the individual and collective experiences of motherhood.

Amber Winter is a potter and early-career ceramic artist based in Kurilpa/South Brisbane. She has tertiary qualifications in science, medicine, management, and education. She approaches her ceramic practice with this background, applying a scientific method and endless curiosity.

The piece has been glazed in a ‘floral’ crystal glaze and wood-fired in the Middle Pocket Pottery’s anagama kiln. This has delivered a complex but transitional surface, from the lighter, calmer back to the sweeping, dense crystals conglomerating at the front. This expression of the calm and the hectic is apt in the spectrum of experiences that early motherhood brings.

Her ceramic interests lie particularly in exploring surface texture, glaze chemistry and atmospheric firing techniques. Amber’s work has been exhibited in a number of small group exhibitions, and she was a finalist in the 2025 Siliceous Award (Gwyn Hanssen Pigott Wood Fired Ceramics Award) and the 2026 Revival Emerging Artist Prize.

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Amber Winter Pyriform II ‘Shore’, 2026 Porcelain Crystalline glaze, ash 12 x 10 x 10 cm Image courtesy of the artist.

About the artwork

About the artist

Pyriform II ‘Shore’ was wheel-thrown and fired in the Middle Pocket Pottery’s anagama kiln in March 2026. This piece is part of a series of forms reflecting the meeting of science and art, and the unexpected beauty in natural forms that I encounter in my work life.

It was glazed in a stormy sea blue crystal glaze and has been affected by the ash from the wood kiln, causing the glaze to move and eddy, washing up a variety of crystal shapes.

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PROGRAMS FOLLOW US

Townsville City Council Galleries are proud to offer multiple ways for the public to get involved in 2026 biennial North Queensland Ceramic Awards. From talks and tours to workshops and interactive elements, plenty is happening during the exhibitions!

Make sure to sign up to our Galleries E-newsletter to keep up to date on exhibitions, programs, awards, opportunities, and expressions of interest. Perc Tucker Regional Gallery Cnr Denham Street and Flinders Street, Townsville QLD 4810 (07) 4727 9011 galleries@townsville.qld.gov.au Pinnacles Gallery Riverway Arts Centre 20 Village Boulevard, Thuringowa Central QLD 4817 (07) 4773 8871 galleries@townsville.qld.gov.au Stay connected TownsvilleCity CityGalleries Galleries Townsville TownsvilleCityGalleries TownsvilleCityGalleries

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