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Archive 2007-2008 >> PartU Elizabeth Kelly

Details of Exchange Program
Elizabeth Kelly
2008/1/9〜2/23

Ms. Kelly formerly worked in a jam factory, and is now studying colored glass in her own studio. She had been in Japan several times, and her good knowledge of Japanese daily life is visible in her work “small city.”

 

Please click here to see other works made in Seto city
Small City
Career
1960
1987
1997

1997−2000

2003−2006

2004
Born in Adelaide
Glass workshop Trainee Jam Factory Workshop (Adelaide)
Master of Visual Arts, Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney
Head, of Glass Studio at Jam Factory Contemporary Craft G Design (Adelaide)
Casual lecture, University of Canberra, School of Design (Canberra)
Open Tangerine Studio in Canberra
Exhibitions
2002
2004
2007
Glass Memories, Chapel Gallery (New York)
City of Glass, Craft ACT Gallery (Canberra)
Scintilla, Craft ACT Gallery (Canberra)
作者のことば
A City dialogue

The Small City began with glass as the building blocks to convey some impressions evoked by the surrounding layered depths of culture.

The eloquence of ceramic practice from fundamental utilitarian wares of the millennium ceramic businesses, and the exquisite hand painted porcelain urinals, to the sublime objects of contemporary craft were evident everyday in Seto. Steeped in these references I placed myself in the context of contemporary studio practice, and went for broke.

The time frame, cultural comparison, and appreciation of difference partially informed my approach, and otherwise I sought external visual references.

There is a microcosmic narrative in each piece that draws upon local architectural references such as the Kamagaki-no-Kominchi walls, to the pavements outside the local Pachinko palace, and the fabulous Nagoya castle, to the local central civic centre. Also by being here I witnessed the riot and richness of pattern and texture of visual location in Japan, as it was a constant reference in what I aimed to capture. From personal examination to everyday dialogue and professional observation in Seto, Aichi prefecture offered such a plethora of rich experiences.

The opportunity to be immersed in the generation of new work removed from the usual life imperatives in Australia was priceless, and allowed me to explore a new direction that specifically book-marked this chapter of my professional development.

I was able to make this city with the generosity of the program, great studio assistance, and have been inspired by professionals of exceptional quality and expertise, that are both training and resident in the Seto Ceramic and Glass Centre. My assistants have been indispensable in producing this body of work in such a short period of time, and a secure acceptance of my place within the busy glass studio structure has meant a great degree of comfort-ability.

The process of articulation involved blowing and hot forming the individual pieces sometimes with colour or silver leaf inclusions, then carving and reducing the surface to refine the forms. I engraved the surface with diamond points before painting the surface. Lastly the works were picked up again by being preheated in a kiln, and the surface was fire polished in the glory hole before final annealing.

Elizabeth Kelly
February 2008.