The warming of our planet presents a climate emergency threatening all life as we know it. In Australia where we have experienced searing
droughts and raging floods for centuries, climate change presents us with the spectre of increased frequency and intensity of these
catastrophic events. Water, whether lack of or abundance, is central whilst also being essential to life and water politics rages unabated.
Humble vessels, particularly the bucket form, that serve humanity by the practical goal of collecting, storing, cooling and purifying water have become symbolic to me of our challenge for survival. I seek to honour and elevate their status whilst provoking consideration of how we use and value water. The black “Rain Shadows” of these forms are presented as a haunting reminder that from just one side of a mountain to the other a contrast of magnitudes can exist. Life is fragile.
I choose to work with a local natural terracotta clay for environmental reasons: it matures at a low temperature therefore uses less fuel than other clays; it is easily sourced locally therefore few carbon miles; and aesthetically for it’s intense red colour which is symbolic of the Australian outback. I also wish to share some of it’s lesser-known environmentally-sound properties such as the evaporative cooling and insulating capacities that arise from it’s porous nature. Terracotta is truly an amazing clay that we all know through roof tiles to water pipes but within the ceramic spectrum it has been seen as somewhat “lessor”. In using it I seek to draw attention not only to it’s value but the need for climate action.
