There’s a sensual allure to handmade ceramics. Some bear the marks of their makers – activated by the indents, touching and smoothing of human fabrication, or of the clay’s material working processes which fold, lift, shape, and extrude – while other items are so lustrous, they seem untouched by physical making.
Occupying a unique position between practical everyday objects and the rarefied world of fine art, handmade ceramics offer function, form, and beauty. Crown Lynn may hold a special place in the New Zealand psyche, but what do we know of contemporary ceramics and their makers?
Once, nearly all of this country’s ceramics were made here. However, the 1980s saw an influx of cheap imports and suddenly mass-produced imported tableware took the place of a thriving local industry. While clay may be having a fashionable moment again, many of our most prominent potters lived through that era, continuing to make and laying the ground for a new generation of talent.
Contemporary New Zealand makers are carving out terrain that is neither simply decorative or fine art but an exciting space somewhere between. They’re making items that speak to the skill of traditional pottery techniques but also celebrate the innovation and joy of contemporary object making.
Sculptor and ceramic industry pioneer Peter Lange has created beautiful and transgressive items appreciated and coveted by collectors since the 1970s. He is also responsible for the idiosyncratic brick sculptures around Auckland’s parks and shopping areas including Chase Lange on Karangahape Rd. Created from 1,300 handmade tiles, Lange commented that he designed the seat to “hold five large drag queens dancing and also provide casual seating for passers-by.”
Gidon Bing
Fruit Bowls
Gidon Bing
Vases and Large Platters
There’s a sensual allure to handmade ceramics. Some bear the marks of their makers – activated by the indents, touching and smoothing of human fabrication, or of the clay’s material working processes which fold, lift, shape, and extrude – while other items are so lustrous, they seem untouched by physical making.
Occupying a unique position between practical everyday objects and the rarefied world of fine art, handmade ceramics offer function, form, and beauty. Crown Lynn may hold a special place in the New Zealand psyche, but what do we know of contemporary ceramics and their makers?
Once, nearly all of this country’s ceramics were made here. However, the 1980s saw an influx of cheap imports and suddenly mass-produced imported tableware took the place of a thriving local industry. While clay may be having a fashionable moment again, many of our most prominent potters lived through that era, continuing to make and laying the ground for a new generation of talent.
Gidon Bing
Bird House Vase
Contemporary New Zealand makers are carving out terrain that is neither simply decorative or fine art but an exciting space somewhere between. They’re making items that speak to the skill of traditional pottery techniques but also celebrate the innovation and joy of contemporary object making.
Sculptor and ceramic industry pioneer Peter Lange has created beautiful and transgressive items appreciated and coveted by collectors since the 1970s. He is also responsible for the idiosyncratic brick sculptures around Auckland’s parks and shopping areas including Chase Lange on Karangahape Rd. Created from 1,300 handmade tiles, Lange commented that he designed the seat to “hold five large drag queens dancing and also provide casual seating for passers-by.”
“I was drawn to ceramics as a sculptural medium and developed a parallel interest in vessels – this was partly informed by an interest in ceramic artifacts I developed from field work and an academic background in Archaeology.”
Where do you find ideas and draw influences from?
Mostly from play and a passion for materials and material process but also from a studied exposure to antiquity and classical antiquity, ideas and sentiments of the European avant guard, and a reverence for modest or restrained works that are deeply connected to us through tradition or nature.
In recent years there has been a change in the perception of clay and ceramics, now more appreciated and consolidated within the tradition of art. American art critic Roberta Smith says that ceramic “has one of the richest histories of any medium on the planet” and that the divide between art and craft is “bogus”. Are these discussions important to you or to other makers, do you think?
These perceptions and the conversations around them ebb and flow in line with the fickle nature of fashion and the market. Ideally good works should strive to be invulnerable to the redundancies of contemporary fashion. I guess a similar logic applies to arbitrary or popular or transitory categorisations of what art or craft is. Works that we have an authentic kinship with, that are connected to ideological and creative traditions enrich our lives in meaningful ways regardless.
