The production of ceramic sculptures has been one of my main Art disciplines for over 35 years now. I work from my studio in Southport on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. I enjoy various ceramic mediums, however, I prefer mid-fired porcelain. Being a colourist, I love the pure white smooth surface of porcelain to decorate as it enables pure bright colours to shine.
My working methodology is linked to my research into the strategy known as Bricolage. Coined by Structural Anthropologist, Claud Levi-Strauss in 1962, coincidentally the year I was born. Bricolage is a French word meaning roughly ‘do-it-yourself’. A ‘Bricoleur’ is a kind of ‘do-it-yourself professional person’, [someone I identify myself as]. The ‘Bricoleur’ finds, collects, and re-uses found materials to then construct something new out of the now, at-hand materials.
For me, the true definition of the making of a Bricolage is when the original intended meaning of the found materials used in the construction of a new artwork has been changed, and by default given new meaning. Bricolage is essentially the reinvention of both the meaning and purpose of found materials.
In saying all of this, I also love storytelling and nostalgia, and Bricolage lends itself to both.
