Futuristic artworks meet ancient lands in Avi Amesbury’s latest exhibition

Posted on 29 August, 2018

Memories felt and experienced. Connections to place. These are the driving forces behind the new solo exhibition by award-winning ceramic artist, Avi Amesbury.

Country—Ancient Lands is about places in Australia, as well as sites in Israel where Avi completed a six-week residency at the Benyamini Contemporary Ceramic Centre in 2017. More than that, the exhibition is also about inspiring viewers to find their own connections with place.

“I’m intrigued by my natural environment,” says Avi, who practices her art full-time out of her South Coast studio. “I grew up on the edge of the desert in Western Australia and my childhood was filled with experiences of the landscape. I remember the hot, dry, immense summer thunder and lightning storms, the horizon that went on forever, the endless stars and the freezing cold in winter.”

Avi’s love of nature is as strong today and her connection to ‘place’ drives her art.

The artist loves collecting materials. “It’s a strong impulse,” she says. “It’s a way I can capture the essence of a place or landscape. I collect clays, sand, wood-ash, volcanic rock ash, pumice and seaweed from sites full of history and stories. I incorporate these materials into porcelain enclosed cubes, open vessels and sculptural forms, to capture the colours, beauty and essence of country and ancient lands.”

The artist at Barraga Bay, NSW

In Country—Ancient Lands, Avi uses clays, sand and ash gathered from significant places. When in Israel, she spent days exploring ancient sites, towns and landscapes from the Northern borders of Lebanon and Syria, to the Sea of Galilea and the Negev Desert in the South. She also uses materials she’s gathered from her travels in Australia, including the ACT and South Coast of NSW.

Avi created four series for the exhibition—Bogong High Plains to the Coast; Monaro to the Coast Series; Coast Series; and the Makhtesh Series.

The Makhtesh Series showcases the colours and textures of the desert and exotic vegetation, which inspired Avi to create new forms and surface decoration.

In Australia, Avi’s work reflects her travels to and from the coast, where the colours, textures and patterns of pieces changing as the landscape changes. In Monaro to the Coast, Avi uses a dark palette. A cube she created from Monaro Plains clay is clothed in rich browns and ochres and surrounded by a white background embellished with multiple tiny black dots.

The capital is a place that holds special memories for the artist. Avi has a Bachelor of Visual Arts (Ceramics) with Honours, from the Australian National University, School of Art (2002). She was the Chair of Stepping Up: the Australian Ceramics Triennale (2015), the Artistic Director for Design Canberra (2014–15), and the CEO and Artistic Director for Craft ACT: Craft and Design Centre (2010–16).

Avi has participated in 35 exhibitions and festivals since 2006, across Australia and overseas, including in Japan, Croatia, Scotland, Hungary and Israel. Her work is also in many public and private collections and art galleries.

Country—Ancient Lands runs until 16 September at Sturt Gallery and Studios, Corner Range Road and Waverley Parade, Mittagong, NSW. Open daily 10 am to 5 pm (except public holidays).

Feature image: Series by Avi Amesbury, Bogong High Plains to the Coast (porcelain, Bogong wood-ash, sea-sponge).