The 2004 Pat Emery Award winner was announced at the Xposed exhibition opening at Northcote Pottery this month.Blessed by a sunny Saturday afternoon the crowd of ceramic artists, their families and friends, overflowed out of the kiln gallery into the sunshine. As always, it was a pleasure catching up, sipping wine and appreciating all the wonderful work on display.
The Xposed exhibition, which ran from 23rd May to 16th June, featured around forty emerging ceramic artists, including current and former students of Chisholm, Box Hill and Holmesglen TAFEs. The work was diverse, ranging from large sculptural pieces to delicate wheel-thrown vessels, with a wide variety of surface decorations.
The Pat Emery Award was established in 1989, to commemorate Pat's life and to encourage new ceramic artists. Pat was a founding member of the VCG who dedicated a lot of time and energy to the ceramic community.
This year's award was judged by Jo Francis, Alan Wilson, and Yoko Hoshino. Yoko described what a pleasure the task of judging had been, though difficult, and commended all the artists on their originality and creativity. She said she hopes this kind of event will help to focus the ceramist's work, "because you need something to aim at".
Fellow judge Jo Francis was a good friend of Pat Emery and in a speech read in absentia, Jo recalled the good times they had together as friends and fellow potters. She said Pat was well ahead of her time, which led her to great life experiences. "She was a strong environmentalist of quiet repute; she loved nature and enjoyed making this planet a better place."
Jo and Pat often agreed that they couldn't sell a pot "if it didn't (meet) the criteria of having a good function, and wasn't pleasant to hold, with a serviceable glaze". Jo also pointed out the value in imperfection: "It didn't matter if a piece had the occasional flaw ... after all no one on this planet is 1oo percent perfect - as much as we would like to be".
Pat's daughter, Margie Anderson, says her mother was never afraid to try something new and she hopes the award winner will do likewise. "I hope the recipient of the Pat Emery Award will be able to take risks, to experiment, to do things differently, and from that develop new skills, perhaps develop new styles."
Pat Emery Award
This year's Pat Emery Award, whose criteria includes technical skill, clear direction in work, aesthetic appeal and originality, was awarded to Lilach Mileikowski. Lilach was commended for having her own definitive style, and for her "fantastic" feel for line and colour.
Lilach's work included a set of two bowls on legs, a horse and a Spanish dancer, which drew particular praise from the judges. Having completed her Diploma of Art (Ceramics) at Holmesglen two years ago, Lilach now works from her home studio while raising three children. Her work is both thrown and hand-built, and she is equally passionate about both techniques. In her sculptural work she uses paperclay, using a blow torch to dry the clay and prevent collapse. Lilach uses a variety of slips, oxides, underglazes and glazes, and crayons (which she makes herself).
Potter's Equipment Highly Commended Award
One of the main criteria for this award is risk taking, and this year's winner was Jill Anderson, with her Dysfunctional New World Order series. Jill's two teapots, sugar-bowl, and 'War Trophy' were described by judge Yoko Hoshino as "really compelling" as they expressed Jill's feelings about the invasion of Iraq by US and allied forces. Jill used a combination of decals (run off a Gocco printer), coloured underglazes, metallic glazes and clear glazes to decorate her work.
Potter's Equipment Encouragement Award
The third award, which rewarded a current student or recent graduate for technical competence and a clear direction in work, went to Graham Mercer, who is studying part-time at Chisholm. Graham's raku pieces - a vase, bottle, tea-bowls and a lidded ovoid -drew him praise for "showing great potential and great dedication". Graham, who took redundancy from his job at Melbourne airport to study ceramics, says while he may not be rich in monetary terms, the community of potters has left him feeling wealthy in many other ways.
Amy Simmons, a current student of Box Hill TAFE, and Francis Janssen, a Canberra School of Arts graduate, were also given an honorable mention by the judges for their beautiful work. Amy was commended for showing "such understanding of the clay, for making functional objects that are also a pleasure to look at and enjoy". Francis was commended for his two teapots and black-fired sphere, which sat together "amazingly well".
All in all, it was a lovely day, many thanks going to the hard working VCG exhibition committee, whose new members made it successfully through their first organizing event. And thanks, of course, to the event's sponsors :
Clayworks
Potter's Equipment
Brumby's
Skepsi on Swanston
Christine Abraham's Gallery
Pack & Send
who made the day possible.
By Kate Kiely
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