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Stephen is a well known Melbourne-based artist and his irregular shaped vessels, vases and sculptures feature in the homes of serious private collectors throughout Australia. Stephen treats his ceramics as if they are canvases, painting his quirky, colourful and lyrical forms across the surfaces. His work often contains a story, or unusual sequence of events, offering many layers of meaning and creating great visual interest for the viewer
Q: What do you make?
My work is a bit of an odd form. It is a though paintings that may have been on the wall have instead drifted onto a piece of pottery.
Q: What are your influences?
Madame de Pompadour and Henri Matisse
Q: What is your working environment like?
Simple, poverty stricken
Q: Which part of the making process do you enjoy most?
My delusions of grandeur.
Q: What has been the most difficult thing you have encountered in your work?
“The most difficult thing”….who are we kidding!? Making art is a breeze, a perpetual holiday.
Q: Can you survive on your craft, or do you rely on other income?
Who would have thought that pottery could keep alive one person and one cat for so long.
Column vase, blue, white, 2002
Porcelain, Various heights (approx 48-58cm)
Q: Is there a particular book that has been significant to your work?
"A Potter's Book" by Bernard Leach. It taught me everything I know about wedging clay.
Q: Have there been major turning points in your career as an artist?
Well, there have been many turning points mostly to do with people who have helped me.
Q: What have you learned as a artist over the years?
My failures are my successes.
Pink flower, large vase, 2002
Earthenware 50 x 54cm
Q: Do you see any challenges specific to potters/ceramics artists?
No...I don't think there is a "specific" challenge. Clay is just a material.
Q: How has the Internet affected your business?
I don't have a business.
Q: Where do you sell/exhibit your work?
At Niagara Galleries, Melbourne. they are my ideal gallery.
Q: What would you like to be doing in 10 years time?
10 years? Who knows. I won't tempt fate.
Set in a landscape, large vase, 2002
Porcelain 53 x 40cm
Stephen Benwell
Niagara Galleries
245 Punt Road
Richmond
Vic, 3121
Australia
see more of Stephen work at Niagara Galleries
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