Speakers for this event

• David Ray

  David Ray

  David's ceramics have built a reputation for being wild and flamboyant Baroque creations. Conceptually, the creations explore function and dysfunction within our consumeristic society. The handmade is an idealistic idea he holds dear within his making process. Decoration is incorporated within the body of the work; weaving, twisting and turning, with a confounding plethora of images and motifs. He believes life is a juxtaposition between the perception of the beautiful and the ugly, which creates a subjective perception towards making and looking at Art itself. David Ray retired from RMIT University in 1996 with Honours and his work is held in Australian and international collections. He has held numerous Artist in Residence placements and he lists that Liverpool (U.K.) was his most 'mind-bending'. Various publications and articles have been written about his work. He comes up when Googled! Terrible at self-promotion, David prefers making in his studio in the Yarra Valley, Victoria and continuing to exhibit within both realms of the 'Art' and 'Craft' worlds. He is a trained secondary teacher, specialising in trauma informed practice, with 15 years experience in this field. He says "time is precious, but teaching and making both provide a balance within my life". click here to go to David’s website Image: Wild (2017), handbuilt earthenware, decal, enamel gold, 48 x 40 x 36 cm Winner of the 2017 Manningham Victorian Ceramic Art Award Image Credit: Shannon McGrath

• Jan Griffiths

  Jan Griffiths

  I was born in Kununurra and I went to school in Broome. I first began work as a trainee broadcaster and journalist in 1990. I also did a few months at the Waringarri Aboriginal Arts Centre and enjoyed the little time I spent there. I’ve worked at the Wyndham Super Market and Tuckerbox store in Kununurra for several years. I’ve been painting on and off for a few years now. I’m carrying on my parents, Peggy and Alan Griffiths’ stories that were handed down to my parents and then to me. Both my parents are famous artists in the Kimberley but most importantly, they are my traditional teachers. I too can keep our tradition alive and hand the stories of our ancestors and how our country came to be, down to the next generation and generations to come. I do this with great pride and honour. I am now exploring ceramics (having recently completed a residency at the JamFactory in Adelaide SA and Midland Art Centre WA in 2017) and I am now exhibiting my work in clay as well as on canvas.

• Jeff Malpas

  Jeff Malpas

  Jeff Malpas is Distinguished Professor at the University of Tasmania and Visiting Distinguished Professor at Latrobe University. He was founder, and until 2005, Director, of the University of Tasmania’s Centre for Applied Philosophy and Ethics. He is the author or editor of 21 books with some of the world’s leading academic presses, and has published over 100 scholarly articles on topics in philosophy, art, architecture, and geography. His work is grounded in post-Kantian thought, especially the hermeneutical and phenomenological traditions, as well as in analytic philosophy of language and mind, and draws on the thinking of a diverse range of thinkers including, most notably, Albert Camus, Donald Davidson, Martin Heidegger, and Hans-Georg Gadamer. He is currently working on topics including the ethics of place, the failing character of governance, the materiality of memory, the topological character of hermeneutics, the place of art, and the relation between place, boundary, and surface. click here to go to Jeff’s website

• Prue Venables

  Prue Venables

  Numerous national and international exhibitions, awards and publications celebrate the fine porcelain work of Prue Venables. Included in many public and private collections worldwide, her pots explore complex and unusual approaches to working with porcelain, challenge the significance of daily objects and highlight the richness that they bring to our lives. 'A search for simplicity and quietness, an essential stillness, motivates my work. The making of functional pots, the exploration of objects to be held and used, alongside a search for new and innovative forms, provides a lifetime of challenge and excitement. A beautiful cup seems simple and yet is capable of gently holding and reflecting so much ceremony and personal connection. The kitchen is full of such objects, quietly sitting, watching, waiting. The made object stands innocently – as if oblivious to the complexities of its history, of making and firing processes. The translucency of porcelain, the light dancing on the sprung tension of a rim, the softly melting body inviting touch, even the frustration of failure – all this and more continues to invite me.' Dancing together: The magic of the dance. As if stepping out to music, there is a playful and connected interaction that is growing here. The timing is perfect as the meeting of minds and emotions intersect. The learning is exciting on every level. click here to go to Prue’s website Image credits: portrait Christopher Sanders / objects Terence Bogue