I’ve been working full time in ceramics for 22 years. Before then I attended
art school where I explored a range of interests including sculpture, film and
choreography. After graduating my wife, Kate, and I worked collaboratively and
undertook several sculpture, tile and kiln building projects, as we taught ourselves
the craft of clay. Until the mid 1980’s we made large garden pots for a living,
but since then have concentrated on developing my sculpture.
My studio is in my garden in Grey Lynn, Auckland, where I also have a wood fired
kiln and process local clay from excavation sites.
While much of my work is small and rapidly formed, exploiting the tactile and
plastic qualities of clay, these large constructions are planned and built over
a long period. Through them I explore different ideas such as interdependence
versus independence.
Clays from various sources form component parts of each
sculpture, each bringing its own characteristics. Although combined into a sound
structure, the pieces often appear unstable and discordant. It’s this internal
dynamic that interests me more than the outward shape.
