Artist Statement
I am fascinated by contrasts – hard/ soft, ephemeral/ permanent, transparent/ opaque, rough/ smooth. Porcelain is the perfect medium for my exploration of these opposites: it is malleable in its raw form, and very strong yet incredibly fragile after firing. It can be translucent or opaque, and when lit from behind it appears to glow with an inner life.
Merino wool is the opposite of porcelain: you cannot see through it, yet it is totally permeable and despite being almost weightless and soft, it can be moulded into strong forms. In 2017 I focused on works that combined these two very diverse materials.
CV
Gillian was born in Zvishavane, a small rural town in Zimbabwe. She grew up immersed in the African bush, surrounded Shona sculpture and African art. Her schooling in Harare, Zimbabwe was followed by University in Cape Town, South Africa. In 1999, she emigrated to Sydney, Australia with her family. She left the corporate world a few years ago in pursuit of a life as an artist, studying both sculpture at the National Art School and ceramics at Northern Beaches TAFE.
Gillian’s work is available through:
CraftNSW, Millers Point, Sydney
Australian Design Centre, Willian St, Sydney
Rochfort Gallery Gift Shop, Crows Nest, Sydney
Kerrie Lowe Gallery, Newtown, Sydney
China Clay, Clovelly, Sydney
AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS
2018 Studio Artist at Australian Design Centre, for the Australian Ceramics Open Studios (ACOS) 2018
2017 Winner – First prize in the Craft NSW Emerging Artist Award 2017
2017 Awarded the Graduating Student Award 2017 at Northern Beaches TAFE Ceramics, sponsored by Keane Ceramics
2017 Finalist in the Blacktown City Art Prize
2017 Finalist in the Gosford Ceramic Prize
2016 Finalist in the Tom Bass Sculpture Prize
2016 Finalist in the Gosford Ceramic Prize
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2018 Four Elements: Fire, Creative Space, North Curl Curl NSW
2018 Moving On, Craft NSW
2017 Blacktown City Art Prize (finalist), Blacktown Arts Centre, Blacktown, NSW
2017 Northern Beaches TAFE Annual Exhibition, Brookvale, NSW
2017 Art Hop, Dover Heights, NSW
2017 Four Elements: Air, Creative Space, North Curl Curl NSW
2017 Gosford Ceramic Prize (finalist), Gosford Regional Gallery, Gosford, NSW
2017 St Cloche Little Things, Paddington, NSW
2017 ABC Exhibition, Bnei Brith, UNSW Campus Barker St, NSW
2017 Craft NSW Emerging Artist Award (Major prize winner), The Rocks, NSW
2017 Clay: Where We Come From, Bondi Pavilion, Bondi, NSW
2016 Northern Beaches TAFE Annual Exhibition, Brookvale, NSW
2016 Port Hacking National Pottery Competition, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery, Gymea, NSW
2016 Gosford Ceramic Prize (finalist), Gosford Regional Gallery, Gosford, NSW
2016 Artbeat, Moriah College, Sydney, NSW
2016 Tikkun Olam: My Place + Your Place = A Better Place; Waverley Library Galleries, Sydney, NSW
2016 Inaugural Tom Bass Sculpture Prize: Finalists’ Exhibition; Juniper Hall, Paddington, Sydney
2015 National Art School Graduate Exhibition 2015, presented by Saatchi and Saatchi, National Art School, Sydney, NSW. Works in both sculpture and drawing exhibitions.
2015 De-form, Group Exhibition, Stairwell Gallery, National Art School, Sydney, NSW
2015 East of Eden, Bnei Brith, Yurong St, Sydney, NSW
2014 Second Year Sculpture, Group Exhibition, National Art School, Sydney, NSW
2014 East of Eden, Bnei Brith, Yurong St, Sydney, NSW
2013 First Year Photography Exhibition of Selected Works, National Art School, Sydney, NSW
2012 Waverley Woollahra Art Centre Student Exhibition, Bondi, NSW
Tertiary Education (selected)
2015 Bachelor of Fine Arts, (Sculpture), National Art School, Sydney, Australia
1985 Bachelor of Business Science (Marketing, Economics), University of Cape Town, South Africa
Other Education (selected)
2016-2017 Diploma of Ceramics, Northern Beaches TAFE (Brookvale Campus), Sydney