SPOTLIGHT ON CERAMICS

Short St Gallery presents new ceramics from our stockroom, featuring stoneware from Lynette Lewis, Tjunkaya Tapaya, Rupert Jack, Derek Thompson and more. The Ernabella art centre was established in 1948 and has been in operation for more than 60 years building a ceramic studio and a reputation for beautiful quality stoneware. Today Ernabella ceramics are renowned for their intricate designs and patterning, refined through the mastery of sgraffito – where designs are etched back into the painted surface, or into layers of slip.

The ceramic studio is an important part of the Pukatja community bringing together young men and women and senior artists to collaborate and learn from each other. The community also collaborates with master ceramists from outside the community, working together so that the younger generation can build skills and assist the senior artists. Artists use the resultant vessels to tell their Tjukurpa (dreaming) on the surface of the stoneware. Artists working at the ceramic studio have reached many milestones including celebrated residencies in China working with master potters, years of high-profile exhibitions across Australia and artworks that have been acquired by major collections such as the National Museum of Australia and the Art Gallery of South Australia.

SPOTLIGHT ON CERAMICS: NEW WORKS FROM ERNABELLA