Georgia Harvey’s debut solo exhibition at Boom, Talismania explores spirituality and the rituals that support these practices, in a contemporary context. Georgia has handmade more than thirty ceramic objects, a dynamic collection of bodily forms and creatures – both real and imagined.
 

Taking place in the vast Big Boom gallery space, a pair of knowing eyes will draw you into the exhibition as you journey through the incredible array of sculptures, each with a different approach to surface texture and glazing technique.
 

ARTIST STATEMENT

What can we turn to when we pass the limits of human knowledge, where concrete fact cannot yet guide us?
 

While steadfastly irreligious, Georgia Harvey sees positives in the process of collective or individual ritual, of partaking in reminders to regroup and refocus. Starting with the idea of the ex-voto – a symbolic offering for an answered prayer – and extending to riff on motifs at once ancient and yet ageless in their familiarity, these assembled artefacts offer a light-hearted take on the benefits of regularly checking in with one’s own mortality.

"Visiting a museum in Crete, I encountered a long display of tiny terracotta body parts from Minoan times, labelled as ex-votos. Previously I had only known that term to describe the more recent Catholic and Orthodox traditions in places like Mexico and Greece of pressed metal anatomical symbols being offered as some kind of trade off for a healed malady.

It got me thinking about how in the distant past it would have been someone's profession to knock out ceramic renditions of detached feet or arms or ears - an entirely earthly vocation, but with a metaphysical purpose - to be used by people hoping to cure an ailment, or to give retrospective thanks to the responsible deity for having been cured. Of course now we can be sure of more reliable methods of healthcare but we might still benefit from the practice of giving offerings for thanks, or from having a physical object upon which to focus attention and concentrated thought. 
 

I think for the maker as well, the act of slowly constructing an object, starting with mud and ending with something that satisfactorily conveys an idea or feeling, or serves a function, reflects a similar sense of focus and intent.”
 

BIO

Georgia Harvey is a Naarm/Melbourne-based ceramicist who handbuilds animalish forms and vessels clothed in a variety of textural surfaces.

Initially studying Painting at RMIT, she went on to become a conservator before finding her way to a sculptural practice, heavily inspired by artefacts encountered in her conservation work. She draws on experiences from several years spent living in the desert environment of the UAE, and incorporates materials sourced from walks up mountains, in wadis, or around the block. She reclaims all studio waste for reuse, concocting ever-evolving mixtures that can produce fascinating and unique results.