Australian Ceramics Triennale
“Under Fire: Clay from the Western Edge”
at the Fremantle Arts Centre
Under Fire brings together 18 Western Australian ceramic artists who embrace the elemental, transformative nature of clay. Across sculptural forms and experimental surfaces, the artists explore the line between control and chaos in their making and invoke memory, place and our changing environment.
Structured around four thematic pillars—Sustainability and Wellbeing, History and Change, Metaphor and Symbol, and Chemistry and Alchemy—the exhibition highlights ceramics as both a scientific process and a symbolic language. Spanning the diverse regions of Western Australia—from the Kimberley to the South West—Under Fire reveals how ceramic practice is rooted in both place and community. The artists come together in a spirit of shared enquiry, continuing a tradition where potters have always gathered—by movement, purpose, or geography. From ancient kilns to digital experimentation, these artists continue a material tradition that is both street-level and sacred. At its core, Under Fire honours the alchemy of ceramics: earth shaped by hand, forged in flame, and returned as something enduring, expressive, and profoundly human.
Under Fire features the work of Ian Dowling, Valerie Schönjahn, Jess Tan, Emma Vinkovic, Kathy Allam, Andrea Vinkovic, Lorraine Hunter, Jessica Jadai, Nic Kotsoglo, Jackie Masters, Beste Ogan, Cat A. Conner, Graham Hay, Fig. 2 (Annie Huang and Reegan Jackson), Bernard Kerr, Holly O’Meehan and Fleur Schell
Twelve Decades is the title of my artwork for this exhibtion. The following is my artist statment.
The purchasing of so called “Virgin Land” from the Crown in 1907 is where this twelve decade long story begins. On a piece of land traditionally belonging to the Goreng people of the Nyoongar Nation, this landscape has been slowly cleared and replaced with mass mono-cropping; introduced grain and legume species planted and harvested year in and year out, sucking up any and all nutrients from the soil. By the eighth decade, practically all of the natural flora had been cleared with the unique biodiversity endemic to the region completely destroyed, causing so much damage that any form of rehabilitation has almost become obsolete. This series of 12 vessels illustrates the lineal progression from the last 12 decades on the land, how the local natural environment has been impacted by colonial style agricultural methods directly due to the artists own familial responsibilities in imposing said methods on the land.
Not only does this series represent the physical impact the artists family has had on the land through colonial style agricultural methods, it also explores the emotional toll currently being experienced by many young Australians. The anxiety and anger being felt is far spread, fuelled by our governments lack of investment back into the environment, the people and our future. Previously O’Meehan’s work has always held an element of hope, this series however lacks the same level of optimism and begins to evoke desperation.
In keeping with the artists desire to highlight the importance of materiality when discussing environmental concerns, this series of works have been created using recycled clays. Combining left over clays with each other to continually create new and unrepeatable clays, this practice attempts to show the irony of using and irreversibly changing the material to that of ceramic which can not be utilised for vegetation growth ever again. The artworks have also undergone experimentation with vegetation ashes as glaze finishes. With a collection of ashes collected from local bushfires, to the purposeful collection and burning of weeds, the various ashes used for the glazes will also tell a story of change in the vegetation.
About Australian Ceramics Triennale:
Australian Ceramics Triennale is a flagship event that brings together a nation of makers over five days through keynote speakers, workshops, masterclasses and exhibitions, where the breadth of the community is shared. The Australian Ceramics Association supports the Australian Ceramics Triennale, a national conference held every three years in different locations around Australia. The 2025 Triennale, Wedge, is hosted by Ceramic Arts of Western Australia CAAWA to bring together organisations, groups and individuals from around the world to celebrate, promote and expand a diverse and vibrant ceramic community.
