Sunshine Baskets capture the visual sensation of vast fields of canola crop, wattle in bloom, cockatoo crests and a good egg yoke. Hand built and once-fired, these ceramic vessels explicitly display the marks of making and reminisce on woven family heirlooms.

Baskets hold, gather, and store; their utility is enriched by their ease and fit to the human body as they assist in the labour of carrying. Skilled hands are required to craft a basket form, often with make-do, natural materials. In this new work, I am merging techniques from my academic ceramics research with my lifetime of textile knowledge gathered whilst yarning and watching my mother’s making hands, in pandemic online workshops and alongside Yolngu and Gunaikurnai women.

Using ‘hand-sense’ and ‘attuned-focus’, I am constantly engaged in dialogue with materiality, process, time, and affect found at my various sites of making. Sunshine baskets use clay to take the measure of my hand and fingers and record the impression of a knuckled method of making. The process is all there to see!

If you can’t find your way to Kyneton then view my works online.