5 favourite sculptures at ICSHU

Walking around the International Ceramic Studio at Kecskemet was like looking at the roll call of the best of the world's ceramic artists. Every space, shelf, nook, cranny and alcove had sculpture to look at. These five works were amongst my favourites from the many that I could have picked. I love the retro numbers on the metre square terracotta work by Csulgal Ferenc.

Pod series made during residency at ICSHU

ICSHU Kecskemet Hungary

Made lots of sculpture and some great friends at ICSHU, the International Ceramic Studio while there as artist-in-residence. The studios are very spacious and the staff and accommodation were excellent. The black incised surfaces related to the embroidered costumes which my grandmother wore when she was a cabaret dancer. The pointy sprigs are based on nipples - a reference to my Hungarian mother. The sculptural shapes are influenced by various forms including WW1 grenades, seedpods and acorns which I came across in Kecskemet at a Cifrapalota exhibition and at the Kecskemet Arboretum.

Pieces of Eight, NRCG

Coming soon to Northern Rivers Community Gallery in Ballina is our new exhibition, 'Pieces of Eight' with Sue Fraser and Ruth Park. Inspired by the exotic history of the Spanish Silver Dollar, we have responded in different ways to the title of the show. In colonial Australia, the Spanish Silver dollar was brought in to replace rum as currency. The dollar was punched out, making both the Holey Dollar and the punch. The donut shape of the Holey Dollar is the same form as the Chinese 'bi disc', also a form of currency in ancient China. This was the starting point for my version of 'Pieces of Eight'. You can see in the image the turquoise glazed bi disc. Our launch event is on Thursday 28th August from 5.30pm to 7.30pm. NRC Gallery is open Wed - Fri 10.00am to 4.00pm and Saturday - Sunday 9.30am to 2.30pm.

woollahra small sculpture prize

Have entered this piece into the Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize. I'm interested in etymology. I have been learning Hungarian for the past nine months and it has heightened my awareness of my primary tongue, English. In this sculpture, words and numbers combine and transmute into more complex meaning. Unless you grow up in a culture, you can't really recognize the hidden implications in a simple phrase. The piece is called 'Ordinal', and the face is stamped with the word, BORN.