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.

 

AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS

 

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