Object: stories of design and craft

Cinnamon Lee, 2025 MAKE Award winner

Tue, 04 Nov 2025 07:00:00 +1100

Host Lisa Cahill meets with the winner of the 2025 MAKE Award, metalsmith and jeweller Cinnamon Lee. Cinnamon tells us about her hybrid practice combining jewellery and lighting, the intricate process of making her winning work Noctua, and the hidden meanings embedded throughout the piece.

You'll hear from judges Brian Parkes and Simone LeAmon on what made Cinnamon's work a prize-winning piece.

Sydney-based artist Cinnamon Lee is trained as a gold and silversmith, creating wearable objects in the form of jewellery and non-wearable objects in the form of lighting. Her practice is characterised by meticulous hand-crafted detail, hidden elements, and a fascination with creating "more than meets the eye." Lee has been a practising artist for 30 years, having studied and taught at the Canberra School of Art's Gold and Silversmithing workshop.

Guests

Cinnamon Lee, metalsmith and jeweller
Brian Parkes, CEO at JamFactory, Adelaide, South Australia
Simone LeAmon, inaugural curator of Contemporary Design and Architecture at the National Gallery of Victoria

Show highlights and takeaways

[00:03] Secrets and hidden beauty

"Everybody likes a secret."

Cinnamon Lee introduces her philosophy on jewellery and the personal relationship between object and wearer. She discusses her practice of hiding gemstones – sometimes partially, sometimes completely – inside rings and other pieces.

[02:54] A young metalworker

Cinnamon describes how she discovered metalworking at age 17 through Enmore Design Centre, where her mother was teaching.

"Once I was in that workshop it was like I'd found my calling, which I feel really fortunate about because it happened quite quickly."

She spent the next decade studying and eventually teaching at the Canberra School of Art's Gold and Silversmithing workshop with Johannes Kuhnan and Ragnar Hansen.

"It completely changed my life, that workshop."

[04:47] Cinnamon's practice

Cinnamon explains that she creates both wearable objects (jewellery) and non-wearable objects (lighting), often using very precious materials.

[00:05:12] Winning the 2025 MAKE Award

Lisa congratulates Cinnamon on winning the MAKE Award, biennial prize for innovation in Australian craft and design.

"It feels especially meaningful given that I am now marking the 30th year of being a practising artist. So to have this recognition by the craft and design community is very special."

Cinnamon reflects on her long relationship with the Australian Design Centre, dating back to her first exhibition as a student in 1995 at the Crafts Council of New South Wales Space in the Rocks, Sydney.

[06:44] Noctua: the winning work

Lisa asks about the meaning of Noctua, and Cinnamon explains it's the genus name for a cutworm, a type of nocturnal moth, with the Latin translation meaning Little Owl.

The object is a hybrid creation – a slender standing lamp made of stainless steel, just over one and a half metres tall, with a cylindrical head containing the light source.

But it holds secrets:

"As well as being a lamp, it also contains a wearable brooch. So the wearable brooch sits into the lamp and is able to project a shadow onto the wall or any other surface, depending on where the lamp is situated. So it's a lamp and a sculpture and a piece of jewellery."

[08:12] The brooch: materials and technique

The brooch is made from titanium and silver in two layers, circular and about the size of a palm. Each disc has been hand-drilled with approximately 1,000 holes – 1.2 millimetre holes creating a grid.

"I love my drill press and it's just a crappy old drill press, but wow, it's drilled a lot of holes."

Instead of creating a simple spotlight, Cinnamon filled specific holes with tiny sapphires that stop the light from passing through.

"The shadow that is projected onto the wall is created by a whole lot of sapphires that form the silhouette of a moth."

[09:20] Why the Bogong moth?

"It was a moth that very quietly appeared around my home."

Cinnamon had previously created a series of brooches with flashlights projecting moths in 2023, using Australian sphinx moths or hawk moths. For the MAKE Award, she chose the Bogong moth for its humble, unassuming nature.

"It wasn't even as exciting as those hawk moths. It was such a humble, unassuming creature, but it represented something that was more than meets the eye in terms of its importance, because all insects are so important, but it also became an emblem of hidden beauty, which is really important in my work."

[10:57] Layers of secrets

Cinnamon describes the multiple hidden elements in Noctua:

"On one level there's the gems which are hidden in the brooch, which are not visible immediately. The brooch is hidden in the lamp, which is not necessarily visible immediately either. Those were the main two secrets."

She also explains the secret ways the object was made – all by hand at her bench, despite looking machine-made.

[11:32] Working without machines

Cinnamon's workshop has shrunk considerably over time, with reduced access to equipment.

"Pretty much everything I do is at my bench, but using hand tools. But I say I grew up on machines. I was trained with access to a whole range of machines."

She attributes her 'machine aesthetic' to Johannes Kuhnan's influence, noting she used to have a metal lathe but no longer does.

"The black cylindrical housing where the brooch fits into, of course, any normal person would just turn all of those components on a machine, but if you don't have one, you have to cut them all by hand with a piercing saw and file them all round."

[12:32] Hidden technical details

More secrets in the work include:

Hidden magnets in the washer holding the brooch to the lamp
Hand-cut threads
An LED with a sterling silver heat sink
The lamp structure itself conducts the electric current.

[13:32] Hiding the handmade

Lisa comments that, “too often we associate meticulousness with a machine-made work and the handmade, where it has its imperfections, we forgive because they're made by the hand, but you've actually taken this work in particular to another level and hidden the handmade."

Cinnamon says she likes to make her own “little physical challenges... to make it look like it could have been made by a machine, but it actually wasn't."

[14:13] Innovation in craft

Cinnamon discusses why she was excited to enter the MAKE Award, which acknowledges innovation.

She references listening to a previous episode of this podcast with Johannes Kuhnan, where he mentioned his professor Friedrich Becker "didn't allow anything through that wasn't innovative."

"I think I have also had that passed on to me from him, that idea that you should always, as a craftsperson and a designer, be looking to innovate."

"For me, innovation isn't simply trying something new. For me, innovation is – it's a way of thinking and it's about changing your thinking to be able to create and come up with something completely different."

"It's about not just being innovative for my own self, but to be innovative in order to provoke other people to think differently as well."

[15:33] Bringing two practices together

Cinnamon says that for this piece, she brought together the two sides of her practice to try to create something that she didn’t think existed before. The brooch is completely wearable by itself but has a secondary life in the purpose-built lamp housing, creating a new hybrid object.

[16:30] Judge's comments: Brian Parkes

Brian Parkes, CEO of JamFactory, discusses following Cinnamon Lee's practice for decades, noting she is one of the most accomplished makers in the country who has worked in lighting design and jewellery for the last 20 years.

He describes the work as both a brooch and a lamp, a sculpture and theatre, pixelated yet analogue, with interesting contrasts throughout. Every detail has been deeply considered, and the work combines technical proficiency with poetic sensibility, with a narrative informing every material and aesthetic decision.

"If you look at it really closely and inspect all the details, you'll see that every single thing, whether it's the fixings, the finishes – it's all been deeply considered. And that's the sign of an absolute perfectionist maker."

[18:23] Displaying jewellery

Lisa notes that Cinnamon's work provides a natural, beautiful way of displaying jewellery through a light source while not wearing it.

"It needs a house, it needs somewhere to live. So rather than putting it in a drawer or a box, or even just on a plinth, turning it into, well, allowing it to have another life was part of the thinking."

[19:03] The colours in the brooch

The sapphires in the brooch are a range of colours – peridot green grading to dark, dusty pink – a strange palette that Cinnamon had to use from her studio stock.

"Everyone thinks that they would shine colours onto the wall, but the way that they're cut, they're brilliant-cut sapphires. So the way that they're cut is in order to refract light back out."

The sapphires stop the light rather than transmitting colour, creating the shadow of the moth.

[20:21] Intentional setting

Cinnamon explains her unconventional stone-setting technique – the crown of the gems (the part you normally look into) faces inwards, so colours are only visible from inside the brooch.

"From the outside of the brooch, you only see the culet, which are the points of the stones, which means you barely see the gems. They just form like a very subtle sparkle."

[21:26] Indigenous story of the Bogong moth

Cinnamon shares an published Indigenous story she discovered in her research about the Bogong moth travelling to the snowy mountains to investigate the white snow, becoming stuck until the sun melted the snow and all the colours from her wings, creating the colourful mountain flowers.

"So I felt there was also a little nod to the possibility that the Bogong has got hidden colours in its wing somewhere. We just can't see them."

[22:12] Judge's comments: Simone LeAmon

Simone Leamon, inaugural curator of Contemporary Design and Architecture at the National Gallery of Victoria, discusses the extraordinary nature of Noctua.

"It merges utility with poetry. It's a brooch, it's a lamp, it's a projector, but it is absolutely exquisitely realised in what I see as a product design."

She notes the Bogong moth's vital role in ecology and how heartbreaking it is that the species is endangered.

"I love the fact that this contemporary exquisite lamp, which is also kind of redefining jewellery in a sense, is also sharing a story, a very prescient story about an animal species which is so dear to us here in Australia."

[24:43] The importance of awards and the MAKE Award

Cinnamon reflects on how awards can be very important for artists' careers.

"I don't think that they should be the be-all and end-all of an artist's pursuits."

However, monetary awards can help develop new work, enable travel, and impact practice development.

"I think the recognition also can lead to bigger and better things. It's a personal recognition, I think, any time you get an award, but it also leads to opportunities."

[25:49] Judge's comments: Simone Leamon on awards, and the MAKE Award

"What I find really affirming with the 2025 iteration of the award is that across the materials and the disciplines, the award reminds us that the finalists are experimenting, they're pushing their skills. However, they're deploying their imagination. And of course, that's the magic trifecta when it comes to any designer."

"We cannot take for granted the role of awards such as the Make Awards. They play an absolutely critical role in our design ecology in not only fostering practice, but providing opportunity to platform excellence in design and make production on a national and international level."

[27:17] Judge's comments: Brian Parkes on the MAKE Award

"I feel very lucky to have been a judge for both the inaugural and this subsequent Make Award. It really is such an important award in our sector."

He says that JamFactory looks forward to showing the finalist exhibition later in the year.

"The MAKE Award is just another great example of the kind of work that the ADC does and the importance that it has in the national sector. It's provided a platform for so many artists, designers, makers over more than 60 years."

[28:02] Commissioning work from Cinnamon Lee

Cinnamon is represented by Courtesy of the Artist in Sydney and e.g.etal in Melbourne.

Both galleries stock her work and can facilitate commissions.

Congratulations to Cinnamon Lee on winning the $35,000 first prize in the Make Award, biennial prize for innovation in contemporary craft and design. View Cinnamon's winning work and all 36 finalists at makeaward.au

Credits

Object is a podcast of the Australian Design Centre. Object is produced by Jane Curtis, in collaboration with Lisa Cahill. Sound engineering is by John Jacobs.

Artist Deep Dive: Seven key works in Helen Britton's The Story So Far

Wed, 03 Sep 2025 07:00:00 +1100

A deep drive into seven key works by Helen Britton, from her current exhibition The Story So Far.

In this audio tour, Helen describes how she made each work, her techniques and materials, and the stories behind each piece.

The Story So Far is a major solo, touring exhibition that honors Helen Britton as the tenth artist in the series Living Treasures: Masters of Australian Craft.

Living Treasures recognises eminent Australian craftspeople, celebrating their mastery of skill, their achievements and the unique place they occupy in the national design culture.

Featured works and excerpts

1. My Godmother's House

A set of 20 photographs taken in northeast New South Wales near Yamba on Yaegl Country.

Over several years I took over 700 photographs. We've selected twenty for the exhibition. What was really fascinating for me were the collections within the house. Shell collections, stone collections, gathered objects and how they were arranged.

And then, of course, the path of time. So you'll often see the dust. I was very interested in photographing the the dust as a metaphor, the material reality of time passing.

2. The Mysterious Path of Matter and Time

A small cabinet framed by branches.

A work made out of my childhood detritus [using] a cabinet that I made about 30 years ago, and cement branches. The cement branches does give it a ritualised, almost relique object-like atmosphere, which is what I was trying to achieve.

It's also in the true sense of the expression cemented into eternity.

Cement is a very interesting material because it is so stable and has such a long life. And it's an ancient material, which I think we also tend to forget.

3. Junkyard Three

A monumental necklace made of many parts.

I've created a piece using absolutely everything I could find leftover in my studio, and put it together. I've used the circle and bone catch for many years. For me, it is an interesting way to close a necklace, a circular necklace, with these two symbols.

And the rest of the pieces in Junkyard Three are often leftovers from my industrial series. Works preoccupied with the kind of environment that I grew up with in Newcastle in the 1970s and early eighties where BHP was kind of at its peak. For example, all of the barrels and rods that you would see lying around on the periphery of industrial areas.

4. The Magic Cupboard

When I was told I was to be the Living Treasure of Australian Craft, I decided to create a kind of 'cabinet of wonders' that included everything going back to my early childhood, the things that kind of triggered my imagination over all of those years. And include archival works.

On the bottom shelf, there is a porcelain plate painted by my godmother that she made that as a gift to me. She was very interested to make something not conventional, because she thought I'd appreciate that more. It's quite a dynamic drawing of geckos.

On the top shelf are a pile of airplanes made by my brother.

In the drawer, some of my dolls, put to rest.

5. The Big and The Small Things

A large wall piece of paintings and jewelry depicting animals and bones.

I guess the bones make this work much more sombre. They're often... what's left over. After we've eaten an animal or what's left over from us, they are what we find often on the ground or along the roadsides of Australian highways.

Whilst I don't want, I don't want to be specific about what to the bones mean, it does give this work a certain gravity.

6. Wisdom's Despair and Wisdom's Blindness

One is a broach, one is a drawing. Both of owls.

Wisdom's Despair is a large drawing. We have an owl sitting on a burnt branch, looking over either a desert or a sea. It's acrylic and ink on paper.

Wisdom's Blindness is an owl sitting on a branch with enormous, diamond eyes. The owl figure was based on a childhood trinket broach that came out of a chewing gum machine.

I see this as one work. They're not two separate works. It is a kind of diptych. And thematically it is about reflections on environmental ruin.

7. The Story So Far monograph

Presenting Helen's extraordinary, often colorful and playful works.

This is an artwork in its own right. It was created for this exhibition, and it includes a huge amount of detail about the works that you'll see in the exhibition. In addition to this, it covers my practice for the past 40 years.

About Helen Britton

Helen Britton is a multidisciplinary Australian artist based in Munich, Germany.

Her practice includes jewellery, sculpture, drawings, stencils and installations, and is informed by popular culture, threatened traditions, environmental destruction and human anxiety.

The Australian Design Centre honoured Helen as a Living Treasure in 2025.

About Living Treasures

Living Treasures: Masters of Australian Craft is an initiative of the Australian Design Centre. The series aims to celebrate the achievements of Australia’s most iconic crafts practitioners, through a touring exhibition and a major monograph publication.

Read about Living Treasures on the Australian Design Centre website.

Credits

Object is hosted by Lisa Cahill, and produced by Jane Curtis.

Sound engineering is by John Jacobs.

Object is made on Gadigal Country.

Helen Britton: Living Treasure Master of Australian Craft

Tue, 26 Aug 2025 07:00:00 +1100

Helen Britton is a multidisciplinary Australian artist based in Munich, Germany.

Her practice includes jewellery, sculpture, drawings, stencils and installations, and is informed by popular culture, threatened traditions, environmental destruction and human anxiety.

The Australian Design Centre honoured Helen as a Living Treasure in 2025.

Guests

Julie Ewington is a writer and a curator and sometimes a broadcaster living on Gadigal land in Sydney.

Show highlights and takeaways

Childhood in Newcastle [00:05]

Growing up in working-class Newcastle exposed Helen to industrial processes that became foundational to her art. "We were taken as tiny children to the BHP and we watched them pour tonnes of molten steel... Watching this steel for making ships being poured... It was fairly impressive." These early experiences with molten materials and manufacturing processes sparked her lifelong fascination with material transformation.

Creative making was everyday life [5:00]

Helen's mother encouraged constant making. "You'd spend your weekend, doing stuff making things, gluing things together, sewing things, not necessarily always practical things." Her grandfather was a blacksmith who even shod horses for the Australian Olympic team, embedding craft traditions deeply in family life.

Making material connections[6:00]

Helen was drawn to understanding material processes from start to finish. "Thinking about the connection between the grass and the cow, and the milk and the butter and the ice cream that was made. This was really important to me as a child. I loved making those connections in my mind."

Helen's Godmother's house [7:00]

At her godmother Kath Carr's house on Yaegl Country near Yamba, Helen painted porcelain, pressed flowers, and made jewelry with polished stones. "There was never any hierarchy of what you did, it flowed from one activity to the other. And I think that was incredibly formative for me as an artist."

Comprehensive art education foundation [10:00]

Helen completed 12 years of university education across Newcastle, Sydney, and Perth. At Edith Cowan University, she did "13 hours a week for three years" of life drawing, plus printmaking, textiles, painting, photography, and cultural studies - building a thorough technical foundation.

Julie Ewington's discovery moment [11:00]

Curator Julie Ewington describes receiving Helen's master's degree work: "A beautiful wooden little box... with 15 or 20 objects each in their own little compartment... mostly broaches... unexpected combinations of things like pearls and plastic, silver and tin. She's no respecter of conventional value."

Research drives material choices [14:00]

Helen's material selection comes from deep historical research. "I get fascinated by certain, often objects or practices or geographical locations and their histories. And so I will then go and find out about them. I'll research them."

Glass birds led to Thuringia discovery [14:20]

A chance encounter at a Munich Christmas market with glass ornaments led to exploring the 500-year history of glassmaking in Thuringia's forests. Glass makers settled there in 1497 after being "driven from through one of the many wars out of Bohemia" because the region had "forests, sand and water" - everything needed for glassmaking.

Long-term process [17:00]

Helen's research and creative process happens over many years. Describing her work in Thuringia, "I started in 2001, researching there... And I couldn't make work about that experience until 2007. And then subsequent exhibitions around the glass animals happened in 2009, 2018, 2020 2021."

Materials carry their own stories [18:00]

For her Thuringia work, Helen chose "glass, rusted metal and cement" because these materials could tell the history: "the long history of glass making in that region; the dilapidated factories that were scattered through the forests; and the Soviet occupation, which left behind a plethora of cement structures."

Humble, human stories [19:00]

Helen is drawn to stories of working people rather than "big epic stories" from museums.

"Often more humble stories or stories that are from working people... often of ephemera or ephemeral practices that are poorly documented but incredibly human."

Managing an overactive imagination [25:00]

Helen describes her creative challenge: "My job is to try and sort a kind of completely overactive, constant barrage of imagination and ideas that are in my head at all times... it's actually quite stressful." She creates parameters and structures to manage this creative intensity.

Parameters as structure [26:00]

Helen uses journals and creates specific parameters: "It has to be related to specificity, whether it's geographical, historical material, often a combination of those three things in one place" - like "the forests of Thuringia; the beaches of Australia; Limoges where I recently did a major new porcelain project."

Advice for artists [28:30]

Helen's core advice is: "Just be really courageous. Stay off your phone and don't care what other people say. Have a good plan B, that's also really important." She emphasizes the financial reality: "It is incredibly difficult to live from one's work... it is really tough... not to be afraid of having a job to keep you financially stable."

International impact of Living Treasure recognition [29:30]

The Living Treasure award has significant global resonance. "People are really impressed by the idea that there is an Australian Living Treasure series... it has a huge international resonance" with colleagues from different countries reaching out to learn about the program.

About Living Treasures

Read about Living Treasures on the Australian Design Centre website.

Credits

Object is hosted by Lisa Cahill, and produced by Jane Curtis.

Sound engineering is by John Jacobs.

Object is made on Gadigal Country.

Johannes Kuhnen, MAKE Award finalist

Tue, 19 Dec 2023 07:00:00 +1100

Host Lisa Cahill chats with master metalsmith Johannes Kuhnen.

Johannes Kuhnen is one of the pioneers of anodised aluminium metalwork. In this episode, Johannes explains why he finds anodising annoying, and his design process.

Hear from judges Jason Smith, Hyeyoung Cho and Brian Parkes on his MAKE Award entry, Remnant Green.

Johannes Kuhnen is one of Australia's most well recognised silversmiths. Johannes' practice has remained at the forefront of innovation, in particular his pioneering use of anodised aluminium. A fascination with the colour options of the aluminium continue to provide inspiration for his work and have also inspired many others to explore such potential.

Guests

Johannes Kuhnen
Jason Smith, Director and CEO of Geelong Gallery, Victoria
Hyeyoung CHO, Chair of the Korea Association of Art and Design, and expert panel member of the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize
Brian Parkes, CEO at JamFactory, Adelaide, South Australia

Credits

Object is a podcast of the Australian Design Centre and is made on Gadigal Country in Sydney, Australia.

It's hosted by CEO and Artistic Director Lisa Cahill and produced by Jane Curtis, in collaboration with Lisa Cahill. Sound Engineering is by John Jacobs.

Csongvay Blackwood, MAKE Award finalist

Mon, 11 Dec 2023 07:00:00 +1100

Host Lisa Cahill chats with partners in life and work, Csilla Csongvay and Matt Blackwood.

In this episode, Csilla and Matt share the inspirations behind their work, what it takes to enter an award, and how they made a single sculpture from 100 pieces of clay.

Hear from judges Jason Smith, Hyeyoung Cho and Brian Parkes on their work, Walk the Line Version 7.

Guests

Csilla Csongvay
Matt Blackwood
Jason Smith, Director and CEO of Geelong Gallery, Victoria
Hyeyoung CHO, Chair of the Korea Association of Art and Design, and expert panel member of the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize
Brian Parkes, CEO at JamFactory, Adelaide, South Australia

Credits

Object is a podcast of the Australian Design Centre and is made on Gadigal Country in Sydney, Australia.

It's hosted by CEO and Artistic Director Lisa Cahill and produced by Jane Curtis, in collaboration with Lisa Cahill. Sound Engineering is by John Jacobs.

Julie Blyfield, MAKE Award finalist

Mon, 04 Dec 2023 07:00:00 +1100

Host Lisa Cahill chats with contemporary jeweller Julie Blyfield. Hear how Julie's MAKE Award entry is inspired by love and loss.

Julie Blyfield is a South Australian artist renowned for her work inspired by collected botanical specimens and forms. Using the traditional metalsmithing techniques of chasing and repoussé, Blyfield makes intricately textured pieces, which capture the essence of the Australian natural landscape.

Award judges Jason Smith, Hyeyoung Cho and Brian Parkes share their thoughts on Julie’s work Memento Vivere (Remember to live).

Episode photo by Grant Hancock.

Guests

Julie Blyfield, contemporary jeweller
Jason Smith, Director and CEO of Geelong Gallery, Victoria
Hyeyoung CHO, Chair of the Korea Association of Art and Design, and expert panel member of the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize
Brian Parkes, CEO at JamFactory, Adelaide, South Australia

Credits

Object is a podcast of the Australian Design Centre and is made on Gadigal Country in Sydney, Australia.

It's hosted by CEO and Artistic Director Lisa Cahill and produced by Jane Curtis, in collaboration with Lisa Cahill. Sound Engineering is by John Jacobs.

High Tea with Mrs Woo, MAKE Award finalist

Tue, 28 Nov 2023 07:00:00 +1100

Meet clothing designers High Tea With Mrs Woo.

Rowena, Angela and Juliana Foong are three sisters who run a clothing label that focuses on sustainability and ethical production and who collaborate on design, making, mending and more.

In this episode, you'll hear comments from MAKE Award judges Jason Smith, Hyeyoung Cho and Brian Parkes.

And find out, Who is Mrs Woo? What are the innovative ideas behind their work Resilience Coat?

High Tea with Mrs Woo is a sustainable fashion practice, crafting clothes and accessories for modern thoughtful living. Their work features natural fibre fabrics, ethically made, through circular design.

Credits

Object is a podcast of the Australian Design Centre and is made on Gadigal Country in Sydney, Australia.

It's hosted by CEO and Artistic Director Lisa Cahill and produced by Jane Curtis, in collaboration with Lisa Cahill. Sound Engineering is by John Jacobs.

MAKE Award winner, ceramic artist Vipoo Srivilasa

Mon, 20 Nov 2023 07:00:00 +1100

Meet the winner of the Inaugural MAKE Award, ceramic artist Vipoo Srivilasa.

Vipoo tells us about the themes that inspire his work, the process of making the winning piece Diverse Dominion Deities, his strategic approach to the MAKE award, and Vipoo's ongoing charity project 'Clay For'.

Hear comments from judges Jason Smith, Hyeyoung Cho and Brian Parkes on what made this sculpture a prize-winning work.

About Vipoo Srivilasa

Melbourne-based, Thai-born Australian artist Vipoo Srivilasa creates artwork that is positive, accessible, and beautiful. His practice primarily focuses on ceramics, though he also produces works on paper, mixed-media sculptures, bronze statues, and large-scale public art installations. He often incorporates food and interactive performance into his ceramic projects, creating a unique and immersive experience for viewers.

Guests

Vipoo Srivilasa, ceramic artist
Jason Smith, Director and CEO of Geelong Gallery Victoria
Hyeyoung Cho, Chair of the Korea Association of Art and Design, and expert panel member of the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize
Brian Parkes, CEO at Jam Factory in Adelaide, South Australia

Credits

Object is a podcast of the Australian Design Centre and is made on Gadigal Country in Sydney, Australia.

It's hosted by CEO and Artistic Director Lisa Cahill and produced by Jane Curtis, in collaboration with Lisa Cahill. Sound Engineering is by John Jacobs.

Image episode photo by Simon Strong.

Series 3: Behind the scenes of the MAKE Award

Mon, 13 Nov 2023 07:00:00 +1100

Series 3 introduces the winner, four finalists and the judges of Australia’s newest and richest award for contemporary craft - the MAKE Award.

This major new national award by us, the Australian Design Centre, celebrates innovation in contemporary craft and design.

Over five episodes you’ll meet winner Vipoo Srivilasa and finalists the Foong Sisters (High Tea with Mrs Woo), Julie Blyfield, Csilla Csongvay and Matt Blackwood (Csongvay Blackwood), and Johannes Kuhnen.

You’ll hear the stories behind their work, and reflections and comments from the MAKE Award judges.

“An award can establish a career,” Johannes Kuhnen.

Object is a podcast by the Australian Design Centre and is hosted its CEO and Artistic Director, Lisa Cahill.

Produced by Jane Curtis and sound by John Jacobs.

Produced on Gadigal and Wangal Country in Sydney, Australia.

Museums and ceramics with Eva Czernis-Ryl

Fri, 10 Mar 2023 07:00:00 +1100

Meet Powerhouse curator Eva Czernis-Ryl and hear

The skills of a museum curator
How curators select and interpret objects
What makes a work of ceramics suitable for a museum collection?
The unique history of ceramics collected by the Powerhouse

And hear ceramic artist and former editor of The Australian Journal of Ceramics Vicki Grima on setting up a ‘living bequest’ fund for ceramics.

Eva Czernis-Ryl is an art and design historian and curator of Arts and Design at the Powerhouse in Sydney.

Vicki Grima, OAM, was the editor of The Journal of Australian Ceramics and CEO of the Australian Ceramics Association from 2005 to February 2023. She’s also a practicing ceramic artist.

Object is a podcast of the Australian Design Centre.

We'd like to thank Visions of Australia, the Federal government’s regional exhibition touring program for funding support towards this podcast.

Object is hosted by Lisa Cahill and produced by Jane Curtis, with production support from Alix Fiveash. Sound Engineering is by John Jacobs.

Writing about ceramics with Robyn Phelan

Wed, 22 Feb 2023 00:15:00 +1100

Meet ceramics artist and writer Robyn Phelan and hear:

What makes a good piece of writing about visual art?
How she wrote about a Damon Moon exhibition
How can we get critique back into Australian arts commentary?
How to use writing in your arts practice, and
Tips for new arts writers.

And, hear fine art photographer Greg Piper on

What makes a good photograph of ceramics?
How to get the narrative of your work across through a photo, and
Why you should have your work professionally photographed.

Robyn Phelan is a writer, a ceramics artist and an educator. She writes regularly for The Australian Journal of Ceramics, and her other writing includes exhibition text and catalogues, reviews and articles.

Robyn’s website https://robynphelan.com.au/ and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/robynphelan/

Greg Piper is a fine art photographer and "passionate image maker to the arts community". His work includes artist portraits, exhibitions and publications.

Greg's Instagram https://www.instagram.com/blinkneye/

Object is hosted by the Australian Design Centre CEO and Artistic Director Lisa Cahill. It's produced by Jane Curtis with production support by Alix Fiveash. Sound engineering by John Jacobs.

Thanks to Visions of Australia, the Federal government’s regional exhibition touring program for funding support towards this podcast.

Learning and teaching ceramics with Jane Sawyer

Wed, 07 Dec 2022 13:00:00 +1100

What are the many ways to learn ceramics? How do you find your own sense of touch with clay?

If you’re thinking about a hobby class or applying for a university or TAFE course, what’s good to know?

Hear different approaches on teaching with clay, including from a Japanese production pottery, and a wishlist for the future of ceramics education in Australia. What’s on your list?

Guests

Jane Sawyer, founder and teacher at Slow Clay Melbourne
Julie Bartholomew, former Head of Ceramics at ANU and ceramics artist

Collecting ceramics with Brett Stone

Wed, 23 Nov 2022 13:00:00 +1100

How do you start a ceramics collection?

Tips on collecting for beginners, how to collect from galleries, how to make a collecting group and how to administer and document your collection.

The guests are Brett Stone, artist, art dealer and founding director of Claypool communal pottery studios; Jane Sawyer, founder and teacher at Slow Clay Melbourne; and Jenna Price and John Kavanagh, ceramics collectors.

Hosted by Lisa Cahill, CEO and Artistic Director of the Australian Design Centre.

Produced by Jane Curtis with production support from Alix Fiveash. Sound engineering by John Jacobs.

Plating up with Ilona Topolcsanyi: Production pottery

Wed, 09 Nov 2022 15:17:00 +1100

Ilona Topolcsanyi makes bespoke tableware for some of Australia's most notable chefs. She’s even made plates that world leaders have eaten from, like Barack Obama, Angela Merkel and Xi JinPing.

Hear how Ilona designs and makes by hand large orders of beautiful, hard-wearing and functional tableware.

Learn how she works with chefs as a problem-solver, figuring out how to make bowls where the sauce sits perfectly.

Ilona and her partner Colin Hopkins run their business Cone 11 in Naam, Melbourne. Their tableware has subtle surfaces that range from shimmering pearly whites to rich encrusted terracottas.

Some of the restaurants Ilona has created work for include:

Dan Hunter: Brae, Birregurra Victoria
Joel Bickford: Aria, Sydney NSW
Josh Lopez: The Wolfe East Brisbane QLD
Seth James: Wills Domain, Margaret River WA

Guests

Ilona Topolcsanyi https://www.cone11.com.au/
Josh Lopez is the chef and owner of The Wolfe East Brisbane, Queensland https://www.thewolferestaurant.com/
Dan Hunter is the chef and owner of Brae, Birregurra, Victoria https://braerestaurant.com/

Full Show Notes

Read the highlights and takeaways, and see photos of Ilona's work with Josh Lopez and Dan Hunter on the Show Notes page for this episode on the Australian Design Centre website.

Credits

Object is hosted by Lisa Cahill, with production by Jane Curtis and sound engineering by John Jacobs. It's made with support from Visions of Australia regional touring program.

Object Series 2: Clay Connections

Wed, 09 Nov 2022 12:13:00 +1100

From production pottery to learning and teaching ceramics, museum collections and personal collecting - this season of Object is all about making with clay.

Over five episodes you’ll meet Ilona Topolcsanyai, Brett Stone, Jane Sawyer, Robyn Phelan and Eva Czernis-Ryl.

You’ll hear from other artists too, and their advice for makers.

Object is a podcast by the Australian Design Centre.

It’s hosted by Lisa Cahill, with production by Jane Curtis and sound engineering by John Jacobs.

The making of Living Treasures

Wed, 22 Dec 2021 20:51:00 +1100

In this bonus episode, you’ll meet one of the key people behind the original idea for the Living Treasures series of exhibitions - Brian Parkes.

How did the idea of recognising Australia’s master craftspeople become a reality? Who chooses Living Treasures?

How was the first Living Treasures exhibition made on a shoestring budget, maybe some shopping at IKEA?

How important are exhibitions like these to regional art galleries? How do audiences react?

And hear about the two Living Treasures Lisa Cahill didn’t get to interview – the late glass artist Klaus Moje and South Australian glass artist Nick Mount.

Brian is the CEO and Artistic Director of JamFactory, Adelaide’s leading craft and design centre, where he's been for over a decade. Before that, he was Associate Director of the Australian Design Centre 2000 - 2010 (when the Centre was called Object. Now you know where the podcast name came from!).

Brian Parkes lives and works on Kaurna Country in Adelaide.

Guests

Steve Pozel was the former CEO and Artistic Director of the Australian Design Centre who developed and championed the idea for the Living Treasures series during his 16 year tenure with the organisation. He’s now an Innovation Strategist and Facilitator in mindful leadership.

Bridget Guthrie is the director of Tamworth Regional Gallery in NSW.

Show highlights and takeaways

Inspiration from National Gallery of Australia Susan Cohn exhibition [1:47]

In 2000, the National Gallery of Australia made a national touring exhibition of the work of Australian jeweller Susan Cohn, Techno Craft: The work of Susan Cohn 1980 – 2000. It toured to Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide, Hobart, Perth and Melbourne into 2001. Brian Parkes says it was the first time that a major institution had done a big touring exhibition of someone who came out of the crafts sector. The late Jim Logan, Assistant Curator of Australian Decorative Arts at the National Gallery of Australia, curated the exhibition and Brian Parkes worked with him during this time.

"All the hallmarks of the Living Treasure series were borrowed from that exhibition, which Jim had always intended as an ongoing series of shows, celebrating the extraordinary wealth of talent in the kind of decorative arts scene in Australia, " Brian says.

Who nominates and selects craftspeople to be Living Treasures? [5:30]

First, a jury was appointed by the "key figures - curatorially, academically, theoretically", Brian say. Then, the nominations process lets Australian craft sector organisations, as well as individual practitioners, to nominate Australian artists to be a Living Treasure.

The criteria to be nominated as a Living Treasure [6:12]

There are some specific requirements to be nominated as a Living Treasure: Master of Australian Craft. These include a thirty year practice requirement and the need for the artist to not have been recognised in a similar way, says Brian. "Perhaps the biggest umbrella criterion was that the person needed to be a leading practitioner in their field, whose influence had been significant."

Growing the audience online with video [8:30]

Guest Steve Pozel points out that Living Treasures expanded its audience and impact further when "we started doing interviews and videos of the artists". Examples include going behind the scenes with Lola Greeno, through to Prue Venables in her regional Victorian studio, as part of her exhibition curated by Lisa Cahill and currently on tour around Australia.

Be nimble and collaborate [8:40]

Part of the success of Living Treasures series is the nimbleness of a small organisation. Steve Pozel agrees and think that Living Treasures "was not just one organisation's project, it really was a collaboration with many centres across the country. What I see is that it actually established new ways of working with bigger institutions, smaller ones." In turn, this collaboration developed relationships and skills within the sector.

Changing roles of curators [9:46]

The early 2000s saw lots of conversations amongst curators about their changing role. Brian says there was an increasing need to be more of a project manager, than the kind of traditional institutional curatorial role of connoisseurship and scholarship. In the small to medium type organisations sector in particular, the curator position became the key project managers of increasingly complex projects.

Curator as translator [12:45]

"The opportunity in the Living Treasures series was to become a kind of translator, " Brian says, of his curatorial role in some of the early Living Treasures exhibitions. "The story is the story. How do you package it for an audience to digest in different ways, depending on whether they're deep craft enthusiasts, or if they're a casual observer?"

Making a 'flash' exhibition on a shoestring with IKEA [14:00]

One challenge of designing the first Living Treasures exhibition of Les Blakebrough was that there was "bugger all money", as Brian puts it. One solution was shopping at IKEA for trestle legs, using MDF box tops with "a particular of color hue that we worked with Les on," and a series of little boxes that would hang on the wall to kind of frame objects, and concertina into one another to pack into a truck. Despite the shoestring budget, "It looked pretty flash."

Touring regional Australia [15:14 ]

Touring to regional venues always been a priority for Australian Design Centre On Tour, from the very first Living Treasures exhibition. Les Blakebrough's ceramics toured eight regional venues, and four metropolitan venues, and the number of regional venues in each Living Treasures tour has only increased. "Audiences love these shows, touring venues in the regions love these shows because their audiences love them," Brian says.

Essential access of arts to the regions [15:45 ]

Essential access to quality and significant artists' work is how Tamworth Regional Gallery Director sees the Living Treasures series. Bridget Guthrie talks about the impact of exhibiting the work of Living Treasure Lola Greeno. "We had some of our First Nations community come in and particularly some of the local weavers and they were really inspired by seeing those works. So there was that exchange of ideas that occurred as part of that process."

A safe place for 'unsafe conversations' [16:39]

Bridget Guthrie describes another impact of the hosting the Living Treasures exhibitions as being an important prompt for community discussion, including reflection on recent Australian history. "Particularly some of the works that Lola had done, talking to that difficult past and colonial history."

An alternative to the NETS touring model for small to medium arts organisations [19:00]

Before the first Living Treasures exhibition in 2005, most organistions across Australia in the small to medium sector relied on what were previously called the NETS organisations to manage touring exhibitions, Brian recalls. "So what would happen is a small to medium organisation like ADC or a contemporary art space would develop an exhibition and propose it to the NETS body in their state and NETS would tour it."

Instead of using this model, the Australian Design Centre decided to arrange and manage the Living Treasures exhibition tour itself, funded by Visions Australia. "We found that this enabled Australian Design Centre as an organisation to have direct relationships with those venues that were taking it, which would allow this sort of feedback loop to kind of evolve and improve the touring product." The ADC On Tour program continues working in this way.

Professional development for touring venues [22:03]

Lisa Cahill points out that Living Treasures delivers professional development for the teams at Australian Design Centre and for the regional gallery staff. After almost twenty years of touring Living Treasures exhibitions, she says this professional development means "there are many many staff around the country now with great expertise. We’re often maybe not spending as much time on the ground as we were, in the past, depending on the show. That means there is a growing network of expertise around the country."

Living Treasure Klaus Moje [22:40]

Klaus Moje is hailed internationally as the founder of modern kiln-formed glass. Born in Germany, Klaus relocated to Australia in 1982, where he founded the Glass Workshop of the Canberra School of Art and the modern art glass movement in Australia. Australian Design Centre recognised Klaus Moje as Living Treasure: Master of Australian Craft in 2006.

After retiring, he lived and worked on the South Coast of NSW. Brian describes Klaus' home studio as "a series of workshop sheds that were extraordinary environments to be in. Big storage units filled with sheet glass in various colors arranged in a rainbow configuration, and beautifully methodical, chromatic selections of material" laid out for cutting. "For artists at the top of their game, their spaces feel complete in some way. They've evolved their life around their practice."

Living Treasure Nick Mount [26:05]

Nick Mount was made Living Treasure: Master of Australian Craft by Australian Design Centre in 2011. Nick is one of Australia’s most accomplished and celebrated studio glass artists. He has been at the forefront of innovation and achievement since the early 1970s. "Nick Mount has been a great advocate, a great survivor, and an exceptional technician, whose influence has been phenomenal," says Brian. He describes Nick as "a classic larrikin in lots of ways" and "a great advocate for the worker."

"We still see Nick blow glass every week in our studio and influence and inform and mentor, formally and informally, generations of others."

Is the the Living Treasures format still valuable today? [28:26]

Lisa and Brian agree that an enduring indicator of the value of this format is that "the audiences love them." Lisa highlights the value of seeing an artist's body of work on a large scale, in the Living Treasures exhibitions. "I think really helps audiences to understand what goes into that life of practice, much more so than seeing a piece in a group exhibition."

Brian adds that "by trying to tell the story of someone's practice or the preoccupations that drive them, you can add all these layers." The different layers of the exhibition program – the monograph, artist talks, public program, highly produced videos, and now this podcast - "make it feel so worthwhile."

Robert Baines

Wed, 08 Dec 2021 21:08:00 +1100

With a career spanning five decades, Robert Baines is one of Australia’s leading gold and silver smiths.

Robert Baines makes intricately constructed jewellery and large-scale, sculptural, complex wire works that often combine gold and silver with plastic and powder-coated elements.

Hear how Robert researched high Classical Greek gold jewellery and remade it using 2000 year old techniques, how colour takes on many meanings in his jewellery, and how a chance meeting in a gallery changed everything.

Robert’s work can be found in all major public galleries, as well as internationally in significant museums like the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The Australia Design Centre made Robert Baines a Living Treasure: Master of Australian Craft in 2010.

Robert Baines lives and works on Wurundjeri Country in Melbourne.

Les Blakebrough

Wed, 24 Nov 2021 17:36:00 +1100

In a career spanning seven decades, Les Blakebrough has become one of Australia's most acclaimed and influential ceramic artists.

The ceramics of Les Blakebrough range from earthy functional ware to more delicate forms, made with the Southern Ice Porcelain - a material described as having ‘the whiteness of snow and translucent of ice'. In fact, he used Southern Ice Porcelain to make Tasmania’s wedding gift to Mary Donaldson and Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark.

In this episode, you’ll hear about Les’ experiments in the early days, why he went from ceramics maker to porcelain producer, and how Australia’s first national craft association was founded.

The Australia Design Centre made Les Blakebrough its very first Living Treasure: Master of Australian Craft in 2004. His Living Treasures exhibition toured nationally until 2007.

Les Blakebrough lives on Dharawal Country in the Illawarra region of NSW.

uests

Grace Cochrane AM is a writer, curator and historian.

Ben Richardson is a ceramics artist and runs Ridgeline Pottery Tasmania. He studied under Les, taught alongside him and was a co-researcher on Southern Ice Porcelain.

Anne Ferran is one of Australia’s leading photographic artists. Anne is also Les Blakebrough's partner.

Show highlights and takeaways

Studying under the Australian 'masters’ of ceramics – Peter Rushforth and Mollie Douglas [5:30 mins]

Les Blakebrough went to art school at East Sydney Technical College to study painting, in the 1950s. He says, "I wanted to be a painter and sadly, I was in love with the idea of being a painter. It didn't gel." Les made the fortuitous switch to ceramics, at a time when iconic teachers led the department. Peter Rushforth (1920–2015) was a master potter largely responsible for introducing ancient Japanese ceramic traditions to Australia. Mollie Douglas (1920 – 2011) was a founding member of the Potters' Society of New South Wales, along with Peter Rushforth.

Early experiments with Col Levy [6:45 mins]

Les met Col Levy at art school. Col had originally trained as a manual arts teacher, and studied pottery at East Sydney Technical College (now the National Art School) in Sydney in 1956. Les says, "There was a kind of chemistry that was involved that Col Levy introduced me to, and we had a collaboration going. We were desperately trying to make high temperature, stoneware and porcelain and Levy and I would sort of do these experiments, trying to make reduced glazes. And the kilns weren't set up to do it. "

Inventing an Australian-made, exportable porcelain [11:00 mins]

Through the 1970s and 1980s, Les felt the white clay he was using "never quite came up to the mark."

He wanted a clay you could knead, throw well, and handle easily. Most of all, Les wanted it "very white. I wanted it to be whiter than anything else."

The name Southern Ice was used because Les wanted to give it a name that located it in the part of the world where he and his team created it. Southern Ice is still made in Australia today, by Clayworks pottery in Melbourne.

Cybelle Blakebrough and Sage Ceramics [13:48 mins]

Les Blakebrough's daughter has followed in her father's footsteps and created handmade, high end porcelain tableware from Southern ice porcelain, in her business Sage Ceramics.

No longer making [13:58 mins]

Les is saddened by the fact that he no longer makes ceramics. With black humour, he says, "I had a go at making some things a little while ago and I was so frustrated and upset. I couldn't really do what I used to do. I thought, this is silly. I'm making fake Blakebroughs." Les says, "I miss it a lot. It's what goes hand in hand with being bloody ninety-one."

Living Treasures impact [20:40 mins]

Being made the first Living Treasure: Master of Australian Craft in 2004 was life-changing for Les. He says he is eternally grateful.

Meeting his partner Anne Ferran through Living Treasures [21:10 mins]

Being made a Living Treasure impacted Les' life in unexpected ways too. At a dinner in Sydney, Les Blakebrough met his partner Anne Ferran and they have been together for over fifteen years.

More about Living Treasures: Masters of Australian Craft

Explore the Living Treasures: Masters of Australian Craft Series

More about the exhibition Les Blakebrough: Ceramics

Liz Williamson

Wed, 10 Nov 2021 16:27:00 +1100

Liz Williamson is known as a ‘matriarch of Australian weaving’. Hear what Liz’s favourite ‘magical’ material is, how darning and repair informs her work, and how she works with weavers around the world.

Liz Williamson is an internationally respected textile artist who specialises in hand-woven textiles.

Sometimes wearable and sometimes for display, the texture of Liz’s work is distinctive. It’s woven flat, and the materials she uses create crushed, crinkled surfaces and three dimensional shapes like loops and sacks.

Australia Design Centre made Liz Williamson a Living Treasure in 2007, and her Living Treasures exhibition toured nationally until 2011.

Liz lives and works on Gadigal and Wongal country in inner west Sydney.

Guests

Ilka White is an artist whose practice spans textiles, teaching, cross-disciplinary collaboration and art-in-community. ilkawhite.com.au

Anna Waldman is a former curator at the Art Gallery of New South Wales and was the director of the Australia Council's Visual Arts and Craft board.

Jon Goulder is an award winning, fourth generation furniture maker and is an Australian Design Honouree. jongoulder.com

Show highlights and takeaways

How long does it take to weave something? [3:50 mins]

People often ask Liz Williamson how long it takes to weave something. She weaves panels that are about 1.2m long in two to four hours.

Why fine worsted wool is 'magical' [4:40 mins]

Fine worsted wool is material that Liz worked with a lot in the 980s and 1990s, to weave wraps and scarves. She calls it 'magical' because she says it can respond to different treatments. You can wash it, you can felt it, or you can combine it with materials that felt. The worsted wool doesn’t felt that much by itself but you combine it with other wool that does felt, creating textured surfaces.

Australia's Indigenous fibre tradition is one of the most amazing in the world [6:25 mins]

Liz feels very privileged to live in a country that has such a wonderful, rich fibre tradition, saying, "The Indigenous fibre art tradition is one of the most amazing in the world. It's been wonderful to see that tradition come to fore with artists representing Australia, internationally with Yvonne Koolmatrie.” Australian Indigenous weaving traditions have broadened our thinking around weaving, she says, to include many shapes and forms.

Woven loops and sacks [7:35 mins]

Liz's work includes three-dimensional structures like woven loops and sacks. "The woven loops came from a project sitting at the loom, trying to work out how I could explore this idea of protection. I was creating a three-dimensional structure," she explains. Some of the loops are made just with plain weave, with their shape and texture coming from how she's combined different materials.

Experimentation with the material leading [7:50 mins]

Liz often experiments in her work, and she gives an example of 'playing around with leather lacing." She said it was "the material that gave her the structure", and allowed her to create, in this case, tubular structures. Liz believes experimentation is vital to develop different approaches to your work.

'Great Craft Revolution' in Victoria [12:00 mins]

When Liz Williamson returned to Australia from overseas in 1976, the craft movement had started in Victoria. The Victorian Tapestry Workshop and Craft Victoria had been set up. Arts writer and contemporary craft historian Grace Cochrane describes the emergence of many new craft organisations in Victoria in the 1970s, as part of the Australian crafts movement of the time.

Learning rag rug weaving from Bavarian master weaver Gerlinde Binning [12.25]

Gerlinde Binning was Liz’ teacher at the Melbourne College of Textiles. Gerlinde was the master weaver at the College, and her practice was rag rug weaving because her family's business had been rag rug weaving in Bavaria in Germany.

In Bavaria, Gerlinde's family had a weaving mill that wove rag rugs for people mainly in farming communities. Families collected their old clothes, cut them into strips and the strips were woven into a set of three 60cm rugs, which were given as a trousseau. The strips of old clothes were the weft of these rugs. Gerlinde Binning lives in Melbourne and teaches weaving workshops through the Handweavers and Spinners Guild of Victoria.

Darning plays a really interesting place in Australian history [15:24 mins]

Research into the history of darning was part of Liz Williamson's Masters degree. Liz found that the skill of darning was an acquired expertise for a lot of women in the 1700s and 1800s, because it allowed them to get a job. The way that they learned was by doing darning samplers. Liz says that a lot of the women in the First Fleet and who arrived in Australia as convicts got opportunities in the colonies because they knew how to darn and could repair household textiles and clothing.

UNESCO's Vital Traditions conference [18:25 mins]

The 2001 UNESCO Vital Traditions conference in Vietnam was a turning point for Liz. The conference brought together artisans from 14 different Asian countries, to assist those artisans to develop new, more marketable design that referenced their traditions. Liz worked as a weaving teacher at this conference and she said it made her realise how she could contribute to weaving more widely.

Cultural Textiles [19:45 mins]

Her experience of visiting India in the early 2000s and engaging with artisans there led Liz to develop an elective course at the University of NSW called Cultural Textiles, which took students to Gujarat and West Bengal in India. The purpose of the course was for students to engage in handmade textiles, study and research the rich traditions of the area.

Marian Hosking

Wed, 27 Oct 2021 22:18:00 +1100

Jeweller Marian Hosking makes silver brooches, necklaces and vessels that are translations of the Australian bush. Hear why Marian thinks that souvenirs are underrated; the reason she still makes brooches and how she co-founded the iconic Melbourne open access jewellery space, Workshop 3000.

Marian Hosking is an award-winning artist, and is former Head of Jewellery at Charles Sturt University, The Riverina College of Advanced Education and Art Design and Architecture at Monash University.

Marian Hosking collects, draws or takes photos of Australian plants and flowers to make silver objects like brooches, necklaces and vessels. She often oxidises and heats the silver to blacken it. Using techniques of drilling and sawpiercing, Marian's work is delicate but strong, detailing fragments of the Australian bush.

The Australian Design Centre honoured Marian as a Living Treasure in 2007.

Marian lives and works on the ancestral lands of the Boon Wurrung people, on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria.

Guests

Katie Scott is the Director of Gallery Funaki. www.instagram.com/galleryfunaki
Su San Cohn is the co-founder of Workshop 3000 and is one of Australia's finest jewellers and metalsmiths. She is an Australian Design Honouree and represented by Anna Schwartz Gallery.

Show highlights and takeaways

The Australian bush isn't all the same [4:04 mins]

For Marian, the Australian Bush is never the same. She likes to draw attention to something you think you know, like an ordinary gum leaf, and isolate a single element or a particular quality.

In the first lockdown, Marian thought there was no point in making [4:38 mins]

When Melbourne and regional Victoria went into extended lockdowns in 2020, Marian thought, "There's no point in making anything because there's already too much of everything in the world. And making things is just a waste of time and space."

She stopped making for a time, but kept up with other parts of her practice, like closely observing nature, sketching and taking photos of local plant and bird life.

Swans got Marian making again [4:54 mins]

Lockdown restricted movement to 5km from your home. Luckily for Marian, she could regularly visit the Tootgarook Swamp, a peat regenerating wetland on the Mornington Peninsula that's home to birds, animals and frogs.

"And I noticed the swans, the black swans. I've worked over a number of years with swans, in England and Australia, the black and the white. These swans and little baby cygnets were just so appealing." Marian has just finished a vessel depicting these swans and credits them for getting her making again.

Rejecting 'sentimental' as a derogatory term [6:28 mins]

"In fine art terms, being sentimental or a souvenir is often a derogatory term," Marian says. "Actually what I do is both souvenir and sentimental. And I really value both of those aspects of my making. I love the souvenir."

She says another reason that jewellery is seen as sentimental is because it's often gifted. Even if the gift is to yourself, it carries sentiment with it

Working with silver because it's not valuable [9:40 mins]

Marian chooses not to work with precious gems because she "didn't want the value of what I made to be around the material value of the materials incorporated into it." When she began studying jewellery making in 1969, she was interested in Scandinavian design and silver was much used by Henning Koppel and the Scandinavian silversmiths.

Working graphically is another reason silver as a material suits her, as well as its low sheen.

Marian Hosking loves making brooches, even though "nobody wears brooches". [10:25 mins]

Marian makes brooches, even though she admits that nobody wears brooches. She even says, "Nobody has ever really worn brooches. But I do love making brooches still. A brooch is a contained object. It's in and of itself."

A brooch says something about yourself and it says something to the onlooker, she says, and it's a comfort to yourself as well. Marian says that her "fabulous cuttlefish brooch" that Catherine Truman made is like "having a little friend along with you. What we wear is sometimes worn to say something to somebody else about ourselves, but it's also a comfort to ourselves."

Australia's first open access jewellery workshop [11: 35 mins]

Su San Cohn, Harry Rowlands and Marian Hosking founded Australia's first open access jewellery workshop space in 1980, called Workshop 3000.

They put in their own money, and received funding from the Australia Council for the Arts. 3000 is the postcode for Melbourne and the workshop was located right in the CBD, behind Hardware Lane, so it was accessible to people to work in, use equipment, train and collaborate.

Like your veggies, buy local jewellery [22:40 mins]

Marian is a big fan of buying local – from food to handmade goods. She says, "I can buy locally produced tomatoes, strawberries, cabbages, whatever's in season from the farmer's gate... The same should be for your clothes, your jewellery, your furniture."

Keep going, keep persisting [24:14 mins]

"It's hard when you get knock-backs and you don't know where to put your work or your work doesn't get accepted into something. I remember when Paul Derrez first came to Australia and he didn't want to stop my work and I felt mortified, but years later he did," Marian recalls.

"You just have to keep going. You have to keep making, you have to find something that is true to yourself. You'll only do well, if you are committed to what you're doing and you persist with it."

Make your own work [25: 18 mins]

Along with commitment and persistence, Marian believes that making work that is 'yours' is essential. "It’s really important that you find something that is meaningful to you, so that you are prepared to spend time exploring it."

More about Living Treasures: Masters of Australian Craft

Explore the Living Treasures: Masters of Australian Craft Series

More about the exhibition Marian Hosking: Jewellery

Prue Venables

Wed, 13 Oct 2021 15:09:00 +1100

Prue Venables is one of Australia’s most accomplished ceramics artist. Hear how Prue went from a career in science to pottery; how three tiny porcelain jugs changed everything for her; and her controversial advice for new makers.

Prue Venables makes porcelain vessels - like jugs and beakers, ladles and colanders - that elevate humble domestic objects to exquisite works of art. They are smooth and elegant, with a minimal colour palette of white, metallic black and sometimes red.

The Australian Design Centre honoured Prue as a Living Treasure in 2019.

Guests

Prue Venables http://pruevenables.com/
Neville French, former Teacher and Coordinator of Ceramics, Arts Academy, University of Ballarat. He taught with Prue for many years. https://www.nevillefrench.com/

Show highlights and takeaways

The foundation of me [10:32 mins]

Prue's earlier study of music and science became the foundation of how she thinks and approaches her craft. "The thinking and the discipline, the asking questions and exploring things."

Approach with an inquisitive mind [11:03 mins]

Prue credits her curiosity to her science and music teachers, "people who were really inventive and exploratory thinkers....I watched what they did and what they said to me and it just built up a sort of way of being really. "

Throwing multiple things at the same time [12:13 mins]

Using a number of wheels at the same time is standard practice for Prue. She says that with porcelain, it's often actually better to make something on and let it sit and not move it. As soon as you move it in any way, you get this sort of ripple response in the body of the clay, and that could come out in the firing.

Handmade tools [12:55 mins]

Many of Prue's ceramics tools are made by her out of junk, as she puts it - old hacks saw blades ground down into make a little sharp knife or something to almost grate the clay. She says that when she can't find these handmade tools, she can't work. "It's like you become dependent on these little things."

The most important technique for porcelain [16:26]

Prue believes the most important technique for working with porcelain is that you have to listen to it because it'll tell you what it'll let you do. She says that what's needed with porcelain is "a sense of, that it's always a developing knowledge.That you start with the material. You have to really feel what the material wants to let you do, and then explore that. And gradually, gradually gradually move the edges and change the parameters as you go. In a way you have to respect what it's telling you."

Visiting Takeshi Yasuda in the pottery workshops of Jingdezhen, China [18: 24 mins]

Prue visited Jingdezhen on the insistence of Japanese potter and director of the pottery workshop there, Takeshi Yasuda. Prue describes how Takeshi used to say, "Why haven't you come? You should come. if you don't come soon, it'll be too late!"

Prue describes it as amazing, seeing ceramic works that she couldn't believe possible like big tiles that have four meters by one meter wide or one and a half meters wide.

An artist's path is not an easy path [20:49 mins]

"The hardest thing is accepting it's something in yourself that needs that, and then just doing it."

So many times I've met people who've said, Oh, I really want to do this. But everyone tells me that you can't make a living or you can't do this, or you shouldn't, or you should do something more reliable. Often it’s the parental voice talking, but I always say, You have one life. I don't think it is an easy path, but then many paths aren't easy."

Advice to makers [21:50 mins]

Prue's advice to makers is

to try and always do the best work you can.
learn to be really discriminating.
don't keep everything.
look widely around you and experiment.
don't ever use social media as your reference material, because the world is so much bigger than that.

Once you start selling, you cut back on your learning. [22:20 mins]

Prue strongly believes that to not sell your work until it's really well established. She says if you want to be a really good maker and build a reputation for your work, don't start selling right at the beginning. "Everybody when they first make things, think, Ooh wow, I made that, this is great! But a lot of people are selling within the first year or something. I was lucky at Harrow in that we weren’t allowed to sell anything. It would have meant instant expulsion. Nobody ever did. Nobody ever tried.

Once you start selling, you cut back on your learning."

It will look like the gas bill

"I remember Gwen Hanssen Pigott used to say, If you're thinking about selling all the time that you're making, there's a part of your work that will look like the gas bill. And she was absolutely right."

Living Treasures [24:10 mins]

The Living Treasures exhibition enabled Prue to produce a large body of work and to incorporate metal much more strongly in her work, and to present it publicly. She points out that one of the key things is that it's work by a person who makes functional objects and that's very unusual to have to have an exhibition like this.

Winning with three tiny jugs [24:44 mins]

Winning the Fletcher Challenge Ceramics Award in New Zealand [in 1995] was another key achievement for Prue. She says she almost didn’t send the work because she entered three very tiny jugs, some of the smallest pieces she'd ever made. They were under ten centimetres tall. As she packed them up, she thought, "Well, there’s not a lot of point to this."

Fortunately, she said, Takeshi Yaseda was the judge. "Takeshi said he just walked past them, he didn’t notice them to start with. They were so small. And most of the work in the competition was huge. Huge, almost life-size figures of animals and absolutely extraordinary work actually. There’s a fantastic contemporary ceramics world in New Zealand.

He said that he wandered around the exhibition for a few days. He didn’t notice my work to start with, and when he did, he realised they were very complex. Anyway, he awarded them the first prize and it was after that, that people started to notice what I was doing. "

Functional objects [26: 40 mins]

Prue believes that functional objects can actually change your life. They can change your thinking. They can alter how you feel and that they are key things in our lives.

Making functional work [27:45 mins]

"It [Living Treasures: Masters of Australian Craft] has a very important role to play for anybody who wants to make functional things. It provides good encouragement that you can actually do that. That you can treat that as your serious work. That you don’t have to make something else, and then do functional work as an aside. That’s a major, major thing that it’s done for the ceramics community."

Lola Greeno

Wed, 13 Oct 2021 11:05:00 +1100

Lola Greeno is an award winning Tasmanian Aboriginal shell worker and artist. Lola uses maireener shells, sometimes called rainbow kelp shells to make shell necklaces. It's the oldest continuing cultural practice in Tasmania. Learn about the role of insects in making a traditional shell necklace, how Lola creates for kids as well as adults, and what she wants every Tasmanian Aboriginal woman to know.

The Australian Design Centre recognised Lola Greeno as a Living Treasure: Master of Australian Craft in 2014.

She lives and works on Palawa land in the north of Tasmania. Lola Greeno is an elder of the Truwana people from Cape Barren Island.

Guests

Lola Greeno https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lola_Greeno and https://handmark.com.au/artist/lola-greeno/
Stephen Goddard, Graphic Designer, Curator and Lecturer who curated Lola's Living Treasures exhibition https://goddard.net.au/
Richard Mulvaney, former Director of the Queen Victoria Museum & Art Gallery, where Lola's Living Treasures exhibition was exhibited. QVMAG later acquired the exhibition. https://www.qvmag.tas.gov.au/

Show highlights and takeaways

Ya Pulingina [3:39 mins]

Lola Greeno uses palawa kani language to greet Lisa Cahill. Ya Pulingina means hello, or welcome.

Shell necklace making is unique to Tasmanian Aboriginal women. [4:50 mins]

Shell necklace making is the oldest continuing cultural practice in Tasmania.The traditional necklace was threading the King Maireener shell, the biggest of the species of the Maireener in Tasmania. Lola refers to old images of the tribal men wearing shell necklaces, as well as photos of Fanny Cochrane Smith, the last surviving fluent speaker of any Tasmanian Aboriginal language.

Back six generations [7:36 mins]

Lola remembers her mother's grandmother making shell necklaces, and believes it went back about six generations. Lola learned from her own mother, how to go and pick the Maireeners from the seaweed the traditional way, and to 'rot out' and put them in jars outside, under a tree.

Protecting Maireener shells [9:36 mins]

Lola stresses the importance of not over-collecting the Maireener shells. She always leaves some there for it to re-breed, as they breed over a twelve month cycle that finishes at the end of April.

Mother-daughter patterns [11:57 mins]

Lola's first exhibition was with her mother, in a commerical gallery in Brisbane. She said it was the start of her becoming a maker. "Mum was very excited and she got me excited about us working together." The very first shells she made with her mother were 'mother-daughter patterns'.

Rice, toothy, penguin and gull shells [14:27 mins]

When Tasmanian Aboriginal women started to use needles to make necklaces, they also experimented using diferent shells - such as the tiny 'rice' shell, the 'toothy' and the 'gull' shell, featured in the Cape Barren Goose necklace that Lola describes. And there's the 'penguin' shell – named not for its colours, but because this shell is in the shape of a penguin.

A funny story about eating echidna [15:53 mins]

Lola shared this story of her as a young kid, living on Cape Barren, Tasmania.

"Apparently my Uncle Ted was one day, had an echidna and he was cleaning it. And so he had it dipped in a bucket and was pulling the fur and the quills out. But I ran in and said to Dad, “Do you know what Uncle Ted's doing?” Dad said, “No, what's he doing?” And I said, “Oh, he's out there cleaning the chook, Dad. But first of all, he's got to take out all the splinters.”

Reviving shell necklace making and traditional basket weaving [18:28 mins]

As Program Officer for Aboriginal Arts Tasmania from 2000 to 2013, Lola revived the traditional crafts of shell necklace making and basket weaving. The tayenebe exhibition included baskets and kelp carriers made by more than twenty women aged from 7 to 87 years of age.

Living Treasures put us on the map. [23:42 mins]

Lola says that being recognised as a Living Treasure: Master of Australian Craft by the Australian Design put shell necklace-making "on the map". Local, national and international galleries and museums brought necklaces into their collections, and "it really did open it up to the world." After Lola's Living Treasures exhibition toured nationally, the Queen Victoria Museum and Gallery in Launceston acquired the entire exhibition.

Shell necklace on Parliament House. [24:31 mins]

One of Lola's shell necklaces was projected onto Parliament House in Canberra in the 2021 Enlighten projection festival.

A family story [25:58 mins]

Shell necklace making is a family story, passed down through Tasmanian Aboriginal families. Lola proudly describes her granddaughter leading her first workshop: "I hadn't written anything down for her. And she talked as though I was talking. She was trying to describe the penguin shell. She said, 'If you hold it up in your thumb and your forefinger, it's a shape of a penguin, as though it's walking down the beach. It's not the color of a penguin.' And I thought, Wow, she's just taking this on, you know, oral history. That's the way we’re meant to hand it on. And that will be her family story."

Explore the Living Treasures: Masters of Australian Craft Series

More about the exhibition Lola Greeno: Cultural Jewels

Purchase Lola Greeno: Cultural Jewels catalogue in Object Shop

Jeff Mincham

Wed, 13 Oct 2021 10:54:00 +1100

Jeff Mincham AM is one of Australia's most prominent ceramic artists. Hear what it was like to witness the birth of the Australian Crafts Movement, how Jeff deals with success and failure, and his characteristically blunt advice to makers.

Jeff is known for his large, coil built, earthenware vessels. On these vessels are his dramatic, painterly interpretations of the South Australian landscape - the patchwork fields of the Fleurieu Peninsula, the sand dune grasses of the Coorong and the leafy surrounds of the Adelaide Hills.

With over forty years of professional practice, he was awarded an Order of Australia for his services to the visual arts. Jeff’s work is held in over one hundred permanent public collections including the National Gallery of Australia.

As a master of Australian craft, Jeff was made a Living Treasure by Australian Design Centre in 2009, and his exhibition toured around Australia from 2009 to 2012. Jeff lives and works on the ancestral lands of the Peramangk and Kaurna people, in the Adelaide Hills of South Australia.

Guests

Jeff Mincham www.jeffmincham.com
Kylie Johnstone, who has worked with Jeff through Sabia Gallery in Sydney for fifteen years. https://sabbiagallery.com/
Sandra Brown, ceramic artist and former Curator/Tour Coordinator of Jeff's Living Treasures exhibition http://www.sandralbrown.com.au/

Show highlights and takeaways

No tractor for me. [4:50 mins]

Jeff comes from five generations of farming in South Australia. He was the first to break the tradition.

Agriculture. I understood it. [7:50 mins]

While Jeff never followed in his family’s footsteps, he sees his connection to agriculture as ongoing. After initially studying painting, he discovered ceramics and was overwhelmed. “It was blood and guts and real.”

Craft would be your profession. [8:20 mins]

The Australian Crafts Movement was underway when Jeff studied art and teaching. He describes how there was ‘no horizon’ and the accepted idea was that craft could be your profession.

Artists don’t retire. [10:18 mins]

People have often said to Jeff, “Jeff, are you retired?” And his answer to that is, artists don't retire. They just die.

People keep changing their mind. [12: 27 mins]

Jeff is firm about following your own core beliefs and path. He says that if you rely on people telling you what you should be doing, you're not going to last long because people keep changing their mind.

When you get lost, basic skills are your compass. [15:17 mins]

To recover from setbacks, Jeff returns to the basics. For him, it’s making Japanese tea bowls. “This is why that good, strong core of basic skills are important when you do get lost. They'll rescue you. They're the compass you can pick up and find your way again.

Dammit, we’re fashionable again. Never be fashionable. [17:37 mins]

Jeff has ridden the wave of ceramics being popular, and then for other mediums (hello, glass!) to take the limelight. Many ceramic artists gave up and only ‘’a core group of us remained.’ Sceptical of the current trendiness of ceramics, Jeff says, ‘’After the last time, I'm very cautious.’

You contribute to your profession. [20:20 mins]

“The growth and success of your profession and the success of others makes the field grow, and expands the opportunities for everybody.” This ethos saw Jeff take on management roles in many Australian arts organisations like the JamFactory ceramics workshop and the Helpmann Academy Foundation.

We need powerful advocacy for the arts in Australia. [21:33 mins]

Jeff argues that the arts in Australia are suffering from a lack of strong, powerful advocacy. “We're not playing the politics of the game strongly or determined early enough.”

Art is humankind’s big idea. [22:40 mins]

For Jeff, arts policy goes deeper, stressing the need to “put ourselves into a deeper frame of mind here, about the genuineness of art to the people of the country of Australia. It’s a big big big idea.”

Impact of being a Living Treasure: Master of Australian Craft. [24:15 mins]

When the Australian Design Centre recognised Jeff Mincham as a Living Treasure: Master of Australian Craft in 2009, he said it changed him a lot. So much, that he finds it “hard to imagine how the next ten years or so would have evolved without it.”

Explore the Living Treasures: Masters of Australian Craft Series

More about Living Treasures: Masters of Australian Craft/Jeff Mincham exhibition

Purchase a copy of the book Living Treasures: Masters of Australian Craft \ Jeff Mincham: Ceramics in Object Shop

Object Season 1: Australia's Masters of Craft

Sat, 02 Oct 2021 09:38:00 +1100

Meet seven creative Australians who've dedicated their lives to mastering ceramics, jewellery, metal and textiles. Why does their work matter? How do they keep going? How does working in Australia impact their work? What’s their advice for makers now?

Prue Venables, Jeff Mincham, Lola Greeno, Liz Williamson, Les Blakebrough, Marian Hosking and Robert Baines are recognised by the Australian Design Centre as 'Living Treasures' because of their contributions to contemporary craft and design.

In Season 1 of Object: Stories in design and craft, find out what makes them tick, how they've mastered their craft, and how they advocate for craft and design in Australia.