Claire has created a collection of joyful vessels reflecting on ten years of ceramic practice intertwined with family life. Each piece is a celebration of favourite materials and processes, and the joy of making.

ARTIST STATEMENT
 

“This collection celebrates the last ten years of my ceramic practice alongside daily life as a wife and mother. Time in my home studio has ebbed and flowed over these years to meet the changing needs of family. Yet it has always been a constant, providing many opportunities for learning, connection and growth. After years of artistic development and experimentation, I have found myself coming back to the same materials and processes - those that bring me the most joy. This collection is characterised by my favourite aspects of ceramics - organic form achieved by hand-building, speckled clays, earthy tones, and delicate embellishments.
 

In the creation of this collection, the hand-building process itself allowed forms to emerge slowly and organically. Imperfections were celebrated, as I pursued enjoyment rather than refinement. Vessels were carefully adorned with small beads, a slow and methodical process. Glazes in favourite colours, as well as touches of gold lustre, have interacted playfully with the clay's natural speckle. The resulting vessels are unique yet cohesive, holding both visual and tactile beauty.    

As I created these pieces, I reflected on the joy I have found in nurturing my family over the last decade, a period of time that has seen my children grow through the primary and high school years and into early adulthood.  Embedded in each piece in this collection is a reference to the constant care, time and love that I have devoted to my husband and children over those years.” 

BIO
 

Claire Gorst is a ceramic artist who discovered her love of clay over ten years ago attending classes at a local pottery studio in Geelong, Victoria.  Her practice has grown over the past decade shaped by the ebb and flow of family life. Working with hand-building techniques, she creates tactile, expressive forms that celebrate the beauty of imperfection and the joy of making.
 

Claire’s work is an ongoing exploration of clay and other ceramic materials, embracing their possibilities through texture, form, and surface.  Her ceramics are both objects of beauty and reflections of a life lived slowly and creatively, where making with clay is enjoyed as an avenue of creative expression in the ever-changing landscape of family life.