A mind wondering and/or wandering: late-style and reinvention in a ceramic practice

I reached a point in my ceramic art practice when I realised that I needed a way, my way, to depict the experience of life. It was an irritant pushing me towards Boruch Spinoza’s notion of ‘immanence,’ an unfolding through movement and materials revealing memory and insight within the pulse of a life lived. It was important to be quick so as not to labour the reveal of the unexpected and to maintain authenticity. With time and experience came a realisation of a ‘lateness,’ of death waiting, that altered the quality of time, trusting possibilities and new understandings of past experiences. This became the basis of my own ‘late-style.’ I sought to follow (out of harm’s way in Newcastle) the example of post-World War II revolutionary artists, American Peter Voulkos and Japanese Sodeisha artist Yagi Kazuo, of not forcing ideas onto materials but rather responding to the touch and the unexpected outcomes. The Sodeisha Connected to Australia 2019 exhibition at Newcastle Art Gallery was influential in showing me some icons of early post-war practice and Australian reach to ceramics in places such as Japan. The standout work, to me, was Yagi Kazuo’s Design Plan (Face) 1977. This work, Kraus argued, occurred within rather than preceding experience, which forced one to acknowledge the result of process. Just as interesting as sculptural ceramics was the development of ‘domestic ware,’ such as Gwyn Hanssen Piggott’s wheel-thrown vessels. Her piece Three Inseparable Bowls 1988 was strengthened by its reference to the tradition of English and Italian still-life painting. Dameon Moon referred to Piggott’s rich late style as having a sense of awareness of time, place, and her own mortality. Jason Smith noted her understanding of intuition, of a life without filters. These qualities informed and were reflected in my work, which culminated in this thesis.