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Canberra Times. Panorama. March 18, 2000, p.15. "Bursting with energy" Article by Meredith Hinchcliffe. Incontri d'oltre oceano Australia - Italia, merging cultures in the new millenium, from Australian porcelain to Etruscan bucchero. Victor Greenaway, Beaver Galleries, 81 Denison Street, Deakin, daily, 10am-5pm, until March 22. Victor Greenaway has been practising ceramics for more than 30 years. He has continually developed his work and challenged himself by setting new parameters. He has gained national and international recognition for his commitment to ceramics and training young craft artists. This exhibition is the result of an extensive period in Italy, culminating in a joint exhibition with Italian maiolica artist Marino Moretti. The surfaces of the vessels are unadorned, drawing the viewer's attention to the form and glazes. Greenaway uses a small number of glazes, resulting in a limited palette. However, the contrast between the smoky, deep charcoal, matt surface of the bucchero-fired works and the glazed porcelain is stark. The works in both materials are almost bursting with unrestrained energy. Greenaway has altered the thrown forms, capturing the spiralling movement of the wheel and using it to give definition and shape. The walls of bowls and vases are pushed out, creating bands or deep impressions on the surface. The rims are fine and look as though the clay has been torn away. In several vessels, tiny spouts are formed which the artist calls multi-lipped. The bucchero works are similar in form to those in porcelain spiral columns, vases and bowl-like vessels described as Spirals. They are low-fired, slightly burnished with a velvety, matt appearance. The curvaceous surfaces capture and reflect light. Greenaway is reinventing this ancient process. He has imported Italian materials and developed ways of using the techniques in Australia. The porcelain works are more traditional, with their fine walls and delicate colours. Greenaway has limited the colours to celadon (in three different colours), tin white and eggshell white, and yellow. The vessels are simple and finely finished. Some sit on a tall, narrow foot; others sit on a broader base. The glaze pools in the impressions, adding colour and depth and giving a faintly striped effect. Though these objects are energetic in form, they are minimalist and calm in surface decoration and for me this is where their strength lies. They are contemplative and the smaller works cry out to be handled. This exhibition shows a master craft artist, who is supremely confident with his materials and tools and is creating works for sheer pleasure. © Meredith Hinchcliffe. Canberra Times. Panorama. March 18, 2000, p.15. |