Photo – Eliza Tiernan.

Delve 'Deeper' With David Pottinger

The esteemed Australian ceramicist brings a new body of painstakingly detailed work to Melbourne art institution, Craft.

Writer
Ashley Simonetto
4th of September 2018

Have you ever seen a piece of art and secretly thought to yourself…. ‘I could do that’. Well, David Pottinger’s ceramic work is NOT that kind of art. Building upon his long-held curiosity and research into the Japanese technique of Nerikomi, each hand-built vessel is impossibly intricate. Classed as a fine artist, David’s exquisite ceramic pieces are collected by institutions like the National Gallery of Australia, The National Gallery of Victoria and even the UK’s Victoria and Albert Museum.

David’s process starts by colouring his clay with custom-mixed dyes, a skill through which he has been able to build up a palette of 40 or so colours. Once the colour palette for a particular piece is selected, David begins to ‘laminate’ layers upon layers of his coloured clays together to form a block, (think filo pastry!), from which sheets are sliced and joined to create unique patterned sheets of clay, which form the walls of each unique piece. Talk about dedication to the craft!

After finishing his Masters degree in 2005, one of David’s first exhibitions was at (then) Craft Victoria, and this week his career trajectory comes full circle, as he presents his latest painstakingly detailed body of work, entitled Deeper,  at Craft.

Deeper
David Pottinger

Craft
September 1st-29th
Official opening  Thursday,  September 6th, 6 – 8pm

Watson Place, off Flinders Lane behind Supernormal
Melbourne, 3000

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