PiPPin DrysDale: lines of sDs the Kimberly series

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Curtin University of Technology is proud to present this survey exhibition by Australian ceramic artist Pippin Drysdale. Lines of Site is the second in the Australian Artists Series sponsored by IBT Education and presented by the John Curtin Gallery.

One of the roles of the John Curtin Gallery is to showcase the best of Australian art and culture. We have a firm commitment to presenting the work of Western Australian artists and, in particular, our graduates from the Department of Art. Lines of Site presents a major survey of the work that Drysdale has meticulously refined and enhanced during her twenty year career, and is an opportunity to celebrate her achievements as an internationally renowned artist and graduate of the University.

Drysdale predominantly works in the form of the vessel and displays in her work a personal and profound relationship with the Australian landscape. Her vividly coloured, glazed and incised ceramic forms have subtly evolved and transformed, just like the land that inspired them.

Curtin aims to present Australian artists whose work examines the complex cultural and social experience of life in this country. Drysdale’s love of the Australian bush was born during her childhood, which was in part spent on family properties in the north and south of Western Australia. In her work she creates for the viewer a dialogue, a point of engagement with the Australian landscape. It is a motif that has so often captured the popular and artistic imagination of this country and one that holds such evocative, emotional and spiritual links for many Australians, and particularly Indigenous Australians.

A project like this relies on the work of many people and I would like to thank Pippin Drysdale, the John Curtin Gallery campus partner Curtin Alumni, IBT Education, and the Australia Council for the Arts for their generous support of this exhibition.

My sincere thanks also to Professor Ted Snell and his exceptional gallery staff.

Professor Jeanette Hacket

Vice-Chancellor

Curtin University of Technology

FOREWORD

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Specific landscapes have always been the catalyst for Pippin Drysdale’s work, whether the Hindu Kush, the Tanami Desert or the Kimberley Region. Contact with a particular site is a point of departure: the fuse that ignites interest and burns until ideas are exhausted and the characteristics of the landscape are successfully translated into a completed body of work. The gestation of these projects often takes years and their execution is an equally gruelling process that involves developing new forms, new glazes and experimenting with surface decoration. The forms are worked with precision and finesse until they evoke the nuances and subtleties of the site.

The Kimberley Series is a new group of works based on the artist’s experience of travelling in the northwest region of Western Australia. From the first of the closed forms developed early in 2006 to the latest groupings drawn from the kiln just in time for this exhibition, this series is the most extensive body of work the artist has been able to show for many years. Most often sales from national and international exhibitions disperse works from a series before they can be seen in total, but in this instance the works have been held together to be viewed as a whole. It is a rare and wonderful experience to see the flow of ideas, the rich play of shape, line and colour, not to mention the passage of light across surfaces that together create a series of snapshots that document her vision of the Kimberley.

The northwest has been lodged in Drysdale’s psyche since her first visit while still a teenager in 1958 when she sailed on the MV Kanimbla to visit Millstream Station, a property owned by the family of a school friend. The landscape, its people, the dramatic change of seasons and the remarkable geological structures were imprinted on her brain. A trip back to the region in 1998 ignited those memories and linked them to the mature vision of an artist. Over the following decade, Drysdale explored ways in which this imagery might inform her work. However, the confluence of ideas and the opportunity to work on a major new project resulted in a new group of closed forms that investigates the Kimberley landscape anew.

Change is not easy. After decades of exploring the form of the vessel, it required phenomenal strength and resolve to move away from a tried and true formula to begin to create ceramic objects that set entirely different technical requirements. The slow gestation of the Kimberley Series provides ample evidence of the physical and emotional endurance the process of development necessitate. Drysdale persisted and the final body of work is an awe-inspiring homage to this extraordinary region.

The practice of distilling visual ideas to encapsulate the unique qualities of the topography, the flora, and the changing nature of the atmosphere from day to night and summer through to winter is a long and arduous process. It begins with the development of new forms, and for Drysdale, this is a collaborative process that involves Warrick Palmateer, a skilled thrower who makes all her vessels. Under her direction, Palmateer creates the shapes and refines them when leather hard to ensure they have exactly the right lift from the ground. Each form is carefully considered in relation to others already made and groupings develop into rounded landscapes that stretch out on studio shelves ready for the first bisque firing and glazing.

Generating a palette of colours and orchestrating the linear treatment of the surface is a laborious process fraught with risk. Master technician Mike Kusnik developed the glaze Drysdale uses, and over the years she has gained great skill in manipulating the recipe to give her the colours and surface qualities she desires, but this is never guaranteed. Each work is a new experiment as colour is laid down, lines are cut with laser precision by hand and more colour is added back into the fine crevices. Much can go wrong in the kiln and the hours of work that went into the careful cutting and glazing can still end in disaster. Drysdale’s standards are high, very high, and many of those rejects sitting forlornly under the lemon tree are gems, flawed though they are. Sometimes though, magic happens and through the alchemy of fire, clay, glass and lead, extraordinary things emerge.

There are numerous triggers that initiate the development of new forms and new approaches to surface decoration. Most obviously it is through contact with a place and its people. Drysdale met the Indigenous artist Queenie McKenzie at the Warmun Community in the East Kimberley just a few months before her death. Drysdale sat with McKenzie while she completed one of her dry ochre paintings depicting the rocky protrusions, undulating hills and boabs of her country. Drysdale later bought the painting of tall domed hills to hang in her kitchen. That work has been joined by others by Indigenous artists, including a magical painting by Kitty Kantilla, the revered artist from the Tiwi Islands. The influence of their work is evident in both the Tanami Traces Series produced from 2001 and the current Kimberley Series. Her reference to the works of these artists is an act of homage just as artists from across cultures and over centuries have always done: a nod in the direction of their mentors and an acknowledgement of their achievements.

PIPPIN DRYSDALE: THE KIMBERLEY SERIES

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It’s easy to see the resonance between the domed hills in McKenzie’s painting and the new closed forms Drysdale has developed. This work is clearly a starting point in the evolution of her Kimberley works, but they had other progenitors as well, most notably the Western Australian photographer Richard Woldendorp. His aerial photographs of the region articulate the scale and grandeur of the remote landscapes of northern Australia with their vast spaces of desert interspersed with spinifex, anthills, mudflats, salt lakes and meandering rivers.

Drysdale absorbs all these influences and combines them with her memories and experiences of the landscape, such as her 1998 trip to Purnululu. Purnululu is the name given by the Kija people to the sandstone area of the Bungle Bungle Range. Rising as high as 578 metres above sea level, the extraordinary linear striping of the domes is due to the differences in clay content and porosity of the sandstone layers. The shapes prevalent

throughout the Range are like inverted versions of the vessel forms she had been exploring for the past twenty years and are the main catalysts for her new work.

There is something very elegant and poised about her earlier vessel forms. Those works have an awe-inspiring lightness, and there is the added frisson of their delicate, gravity defying balancing act that gives them a presence that sustains long engagement. The vessels also offer the promise of the interior: that wonderful coloured void into which we fall after circumnavigating the complex linearity of the exterior surface. So why change?

The risk of moving into new territory is one of the great addictions of the creative artist. Knowing you could loose everything but possibly gain the world is a gamble, just like the stock market is a gamble: a calculated risk certainly, but nevertheless there is the risk that it will all collapse into nothing. What greater attraction could there be!

To upend the vessel is a radical act, but one the artist had to try. Immediately the form became non-functional, the

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void could no longer be accessed, the colour it contains no longer visible. The closed form became an object amongst other objects, one that must survive by its own wits, create its own reason to exist, seek out friends. Although singular works have great dignity, they require others to lend support and to tell bigger, more expansive stories.

On the benches in Drysdale’s studio, these ‘tablescapes’ grew as each pot was drawn from the kiln, still warm and fresh with a new blush of colour. Moving from bench to bench the diversity and richness of her response amassed into a vast panorama of geological, botanical and meteorological complexity. Each grouping captured an aspect of the Kimberley landscape, some through nuances of colour and others through a linear extrapolation that flowed over their gently doming forms. They describe the topography of anthills, mountain ranges, tumbling tracts of spinifex and rocky protuberances that spring from the red desert soil. This is the Kimberley, or Pippin Drysdale’s Kimberley, in all its intricate convolutions of form, line, colour and texture, but there was one last facet of the project remaining.

The works, once excised from her Fremantle studio, had to be re-assembled in the John Curtin Gallery. The groupings, so carefully worked out on table tops in her home and studio, had to be reconfigured to fit the gallery environment and the more expansive viewing opportunities it offered. This process was very revealing and the vastness of her project was only realized during

this final installation. Specific groupings were locked into a wider perspective and the potential to scan from one cluster of forms to another developed lines of sight that re-created the layering of space, place and light that gives the Kimberley its unique presence.

And they are breathtakingly beautiful objects. Drysdale is an exceptional artist, a fact acknowledged by the Craft Council of Australia when earlier this year they nominated her as a ‘Master of Australian Craft’. Each pot is wrought with enormous care and great skill to draw out some aspect, to illuminate some quality or identify a particular characteristic of the landscape.

Drysdale has always pushed at the boundaries of her practice, always sought out new challenges and taken the kind of risks that would daunt most practitioners. The Kimberley Series is one of her greatest achievements, not only because it pushes further into new territory than her previous projects, but also because of its extraordinary achievement in translating and re-imaging the specificity of place. The more than one hundred individual closed forms that make up the series are a tour de force, each one a small gem that requires close inspection but together they coalesce into a vast panorama that is awe inspiring in its scope and scale – just like the Kimberley itself.

Ted SnellDean of Art, John Curtin Centre

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Pip20070625_001332.jpgFlor lines? http://www.acorn.com.au/previews/Pip-20070629WEB/source/image/pip20070629_121261.jpg

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PIPPIN DRYSDALECurriculum VitaeBorn 1943 Melbourne, VictoriaCurrently lives and works in Fremantle, Western Australia

EDUCATION1986 Bachelor of Arts (Fine Art), Curtin, Perth, WA1983–85 Studied at Western Australian Institute of Technology (now Curtin University of

Technology)1982 Diploma in Advanced Ceramics, Western Australian School of Art & Design,

WA Associate potter at Rhoda Lopez’ Clay Dimensions, San Diego, USA1979–82 Study and work tour to: Perugia, Italy; Anderson Ranch, Colorado; San

Diego USA1979–81 Advanced Diploma in Ceramics, Perth Technical College, Perth, WA

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE 2007 Master of Australian Craft Award, Craft Australia, Sydney, NSW1997–2007 Adjunct Research Fellow, School of Art, Curtin University of Technology, Perth,

WA1994–2007 Fellow of FORM (formerly Craftwest), WA2005 Hong Kong Ceramic Association slide lecture 2004 Guest Lecturer, Friends of the Art Gallery, Art Gallery of Western Australia,

Perth, WA Lecture tour, New Zealand2003 Guest Lecturer, Washington State University, Seattle, USA2000 Master workshops and lectures throughout Queensland and remote areas

(Flying Arts Assoc)1999 Cultural exchange and exhibition, Gubbio, Italy Guest Lecturer, Ceramica: natura e arte, at La Ceramica fra scultura e arte

decorativa nel XX secolo, Faenza, Italy Cultural study tour, Pakistan1998 Study tour, Central Australia, as part of ArtsWA Fellowship1997 Guest Lecturer, Auckland Summer School Workshop, New Zealand Master workshops, Auckland Studio Potters Inc., Wellington Potters

Association, New Zealand Society of Potters, NZ (21 workshops in total, North and South islands)

1996 Master workshops and lectures, national tour, Australia Guest Lecturer: Canberra School of Art, Canberra, ACT; Sydney College of

the Arts, Sydney, NSW; Banff Centre for the Arts, Canada1994 Artist-in-Residence: Banff Centre for the Arts, Calgary, Canada; Washington

State University, Seattle, USA1993 Artist in residence/Visiting Lecturer, Canberra School of Art, Canberra, ACT1991 Artist in residence and master workshops, Swansea Art College, Swansea,

Wales International delegate and Lecturer, Potters’ Festival, Aberystwyth Arts Centre,

Wales Artist in residence, Deruta Grazia Maioliche Pottery, Perugia, Italy Guest Lecturer: Belle Artes School, Perugia, Italy; Princeton University,

New Jersey, USA; Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, USA; Boise State University, Idaho, USA; Washington State University, Washington State, USA

Cultural exchange residency, Tomsk University, Siberia, Russia Cultural exchange series of lectures in Siberia for Artists’ Union of Russia,

Russia Artist in residence: Wales, UK; Perugia, Italy; Siberia, Russia; Seattle, USA1990 Guest Lecturer, Meat Market Craft Centre, Melbourne, Vic1988 Slide lecture and forum, School of Art, University of Tasmania, Tas. Presentation lecture and symposium, 5th National Potters Conference,

Sydney, NSW Arts Access workshops, Fremantle Arts Centre, Fremantle, WA1988 Guest Lecturer: School of Art, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tas.; Princeton

University, Skidmore College, Boise State University and Washington State University, USA

1986 Master workshops and lectures: Australia, Canada, NZ, Russia, UK and USA

SELECT SOLO EXHIBITIONS Over 45 solo exhibitions 1986-2007

2009 Kimberley Series, Michael Reid Gallery, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Booker Lowe Gallery, Houston, Texas, USA2008 Anant Art Gallery, Delhi, India V&A COL LECT Art Fair, London, represented by Marianne Heller, Galerie

Heller2007 Yamaki Gallery, Osaka, Japan 30th Anniversary, Marianne Heller Gallery, Heidelberg, Germany Pippin Drysdale: Lines of Site, John Curtin Gallery, Perth, WA PULS Galerie, Brussels2006 Carlin Gallery, Paris, France Anant Art Gallery, Delhi, India2005 Earth in Many Moods, The Gaffer Studio Glass Gallery, Hong Kong Boutwell Draper Gallery, Sydney, NSW Landscapes in Porcelain, Axia Modern Art Gallery, Vic Beaver Gallery, Canberra, ACT V&A, COL LECT Art Fair, London, represented by Marianne Heller, Galerie

Heller2004 V&A, COL LECT Art Fair, London, represented by Marianne Heller, Galerie

Heller Wagga Wagga Regional Art Gallery Masterworks, Auckland, NZ Framed Gallery, Darwin, NT2003 Axia Modern Art gallery, Vic Galerie Marianne Heller, Friedrich-Ebert-Platz 11, Heidelberg, Germany Red Earth, Galerie Marianne Heller, Frankfurt, Germany2000 Perth Gallery Sothebys, Perth, WA Quadrivium, Sydney, NSW1999 From Dust, North Series, Perth Galleries, Festival of Perth, WA1997 Eastern Goldfields Series I, Beaver Galleries, Canberra, ACT Eastern Goldfields Series III, Pots on Ponsonby, Auckland, NZ 1996 Eastern Goldfields Series I, Contemporary Art Gallery, Paddington, NSW1995 Chalice Series, Distelfink Gallery, Melbourne, VIC I Won’t Wish I Will’ – The Pinnacles Series, The Door Gallery, Fremantle,

WA1993 OTT & Landscape Lustre Series, Perth Galleries, WA 1992 Carnivale Lustre Series, Narek Gallery, Canberra, ACT1991 Totem Series, Tomsk State Gallery and Museum, Russia Totem Series,

Novosirbirsk State Gallery and Museum, Russia

GROUP EXHIBITIONS Over 300 group and invitational exhibitions from 1981-20072006 Melbourne Art Fair, represented by Boutwell Draper Gallery NSW,

Melbourne, Vic Landscape: Allusions in Clay, Pewabic Pottery, Detroit, USA 2005 Australia – Art & About, represented by Ananya Gallery, The Australian Trade

Commission, Hong Kong Crust - examining artists approaches to clay surfaces, Gold Coast City Art

Gallery, Qld Sasha Waddell’s Book launch Porcelain & Bone China Exhibition: FORM,

Perth, WA; Freeman Gallery, Hobart, Tas.; Raglan Gallery, NSW One Piece-One Artist, Galerie Marianne Heller, Heidelberg, Germany Art Sydney 2005, Sabbia Gallery, Sydney, NSW Art Sydney 2005, Sabbia Gallery and David Rex-Livingston Gallery

representation, Sydney, NSW Transformations, National Gallery of Australia, ACT Summer Heat, Quest, Bath, England Liquid Properties, Boutwell Draper Gallery, Redfern, Sydney, NSW A Parched Progress: Landscapes of Australia, Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery,

Perth, WA V&A COL LECT Art Fair, LONDON, represented by Marianne Heller, Galerie

Heller

CURRICULUM VITAE

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Small is Beautiful, The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland Craftwest WA, Florence Art Fair, Italy Ceramic as Expression, Third World Ceramic Biennale 2005, Korea 2004–05 Vessel, Kunstforum Kirchberg Galerie, Kirchberg, Switzerland 2004 SOFA Chicago, USA, represented by Jan Kara Raglan Galleries, NSW Boutwell Draper Gallery, Redfern, Sydney, NSW Coloured Porcelain, St. Joseph Galerie, Holland Sydney Myer Fund International Ceramic Award, Shepperton Art Gallery, Vic Masters of the Modern, International Art Fair Munich, Germany2003 Recovery for Use, Cheongiu Invitational International Craft Biennale, Korea Kanazawa World Craft Forum Invitational Exhibition, 21st Century Museum,

Japan The Legacy of Modern Ceramic Art Part 2: Ceramic Art for the International

Perspective, Museum of Modern Art, Gifu, Japan2002 Material Culture – Aspects of Contemporary Australian Craft & Design, Munich

International Craft Fair, represented by Craft Australia, NSW2001 Australian Art & Society, Australian National Gallery, ACT2000 Australian Contemporary Ceramics, Marianne Hellar Galerie, Heidelberg,

Germany Australia’s Best, Sydney 2000 Olympics, Sydney, NSW Quadrivium Gallery, Sydney, NSW Perth Gallery, Sothebys WA Contemporary Australian Craft, Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, NSW, and on

tour: Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, Sapporo, Japan; Takaoka Art Museum, Takaoka, Japan; The Museum of Modern Art, Shiga, Otsu, Japan

1998 Variations on a Vessel, Quadrivium Gallery, Sydney, NSW1997 Art in Gold, Ballarat Art Gallery and Museum, Ballarat, Vic Delinquent Angel: Australian Historical, Aboriginal and Contemporary Ceramics:

Old Treasury, Melbourne; The Jam Factory, Adelaide; S H Erwin Gallery, Sydney; Art Galleries and Museum of the Northern Territory, Darwin, NT

Bowled Over, Savode Gallery, Brisbane, Qld1996 Fletcher Challenge Ceramics Award, Auckland, NZ Delinquent Angel: Australian Historical, Aboriginal and Contemporary Ceramics,

touring Japan, Singapore, USA and Australia Director’s Choice, Distelfink Gallery, Melbourne, Vic Sidney Meyer Invitational Art Acquisition Ceramic Award, Shepperton Art

Gallery, Vic City of Perth Craft Awards, Craftwest Gallery, Perth, WA Sixth Australian Contemporary Art Fair, Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne, Vic Ceramics Art and Perception Stand, Australian Expo, Singapore1995 The Bowl, Savode Gallery, Brisbane, Qld Delinquent Angel: Australian Historical, Aboriginal and Contemporary Ceramics,

Museo Internazionale Ceramiche, Faenza, Italy Juggling the Elements, Manly Art Gallery, Manly, NSW Midland Centennial Art Acquisition, Kalla Yeedip, Midland, WA Designed and Made, Craftwest, WA Sidney Meyer Australia Day Invitational Ceramic Award, Shepperton Art Gallery,

Vic Fourth Australian Contemporary Art Fair, Melbourne, Vic Pride of Place: New Acquisitions 1990-94, Art Gallery of Western Australia,

Perth, WA1992 Design Visions: Australian International Craft Triennial, Art Gallery of Western

Australia, Bunbury and Geraldton, WA Ceramic Object, Manly Art Gallery and Museum, NSW1991 Western Australian Painting and Ceramic Exhibition, Gallery Sanyo, Tokyo, Japan National Ceramic Exhibition, Shepparton Art Gallery, Vic Decorated Clay, Sixth National Ceramics Conference Acquisition Award

Exhibition, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, QLD1990 Australian Survey of Crafts, Meat Market Craft Centre, Melbourne, Vic Diamond Valley Acquisition Award, Shire of Diamond Valley, Vic Ninth Annual Craft Acquisition Award, Darwin, NT1989 Fletcher Challenge Ceramics Award, Auckland, NZ City of Perth Craft Awards, Craft Council Centre, Perth, WA National Ceramic Award, Canberra School of Art Gallery, Canberra, ACT1988 National Ceramic Award, Canberra School of Art Gallery, Canberra, ACT

Diamond Valley Art Award Exhibition, Vic National Craft Acquisition Award Exhibition, Crafts Council, Darwin, NT1987 Craft Purchase Exhibition, Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston,

NZ City of Perth Craft Awards, Craft Council Centre, Perth, WA1986 National Ceramic Award, Canberra School of Art Gallery, Canberra, ACT City of Perth Craft Awards, Council House, Perth, WA1985 Walkers Award, Victorian Arts Centre, Melbourne, Vic Crossroads, Distelfink Gallery, Melbourne, Vic City of Perth Craft Awards, Perth, WA WAIT Craft Degree Exhibition, Praxis, Fremantle, WA Greenhill Gallery Christmas Exhibition, Perth, WA1981 Perth Technical College Degree Show, Short Street Gallery, Fremantle, WA

INTERNATIONAL AWARDS AND EXPOS2005 Mostra Mercato Internazional del’Artigianato, Form, Florence Art Expo, Italy Ceramic as Expression, 3rd World Ceramic Biennale 2005, Honourable

Mention, Korea2004 SOFA Chicago USA, represented by Jan Kara Raglan Galleries, NSW2000 Munich International Craft Fair in conjunction with Craft Australia1999 La Ceramica fra Scultura e Arte Decorativa nel XX Seccolo, Gubbio, Italy1998 SOFA: Chicago and New York, USA, Eastern Goldfields Series III1995 Australia comes to Surabaya, Surabaya, Indonesia, Seascape Series1994 CINAFE 94, Chicago, USA Australian Contemporary Art Fair, Singapore, Landscape Lustre Series1993 CINAFE, Chicago, USA, Landscape Lustre Series1989 Australian Expo, Department of Trade and Development, Singapore1988 Australian Interior Design Expo, Hong Kong, Theatre Series

GRANTS2005 ArtsWA Project Grant, John Curtin Gallery exhibition Pippin Drysdale: Lines of

Site 2004 ArtsWA, Freight and Travel, Carlin Gallery Paris Jan 20052003 ArtsWA, Freight and Travel, V&A London “COL LECT”2002 ArtsWA, Catalogue, Freight & Travel, Germany2001 The Australia Council for the Arts (VACF), new work to tour Germany1998 ArtsWA Creative Development Fellowship1997–98 The Australia Council Visual Art and Crafts Fund, Project Grant1997 ArtsWA Travel Grant1994 The Australia Council Visual Art and Crafts Board, Creative Development Grant1992 ArtsWA Travel Grant1991 ArtsWA Travel Grant1990 The Australia Council Visual Art and Crafts Board, Creative Development Grant1987 The Australia Council Visual Art and Crafts Board, Special Development Grant

AWARDS2003 Gold Coast International Award, Qld1995 City of Perth Craft Award, WA Newcastle Ceramic Purchase Award, Newcastle Regional Art Gallery Docks Art Award, Fremantle, WA1994 Diamond Valley Art Award, Vic1992 Highly Commended: Australian Customs Service Art Award, Fremantle, WA Mornington Peninsula Craft Award, Vic1991 Highly Commended: Diamond Valley Art Award1988 Tresillian Art Award, Award for Ceramics Excellence International Art Award, Certificate of Excellence for Outstanding Achievement,

New York, USA National Craft Acquisition Award, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern

Territory, NT City of Fremantle Acquisition Award, Award for Excellence, Fremantle, WA1987 Award for Ceramics Excellence: Tresillian Art Award Purchase Award, Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston, Tas

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COLLECTIONSAir New Zealand, Western AustraliaAnsett, AustraliaANZ Bank, Melbourne, AustraliaArt Bank, AustraliaArt Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, Western AustraliaAuckland Art Gallery, New ZealandAustralian Capital Equity, Perth, Western AustraliaAustralian Contemporary Art FairAustralian National GalleryBank of New Zealand, Perth, Western AustraliaBankWestCampbelltown Art Gallery, New South Wales, AustraliaCheongiu Museum and Art Gallery City of Fremantle, Western AustraliaCoopers and Lybrand & AssociatesCraft Expo Presentation, gift to Mr and Mrs Gough WhitlamCraftwest, Western AustraliaCurtin University of Technology Art Collection, Western AustraliaDepartment of Prime Minister & Cabinet, gift to President of MexicoDepartment of Trade & Development, gift to Prime Minister & Cabinet, IndonesiaEdith Cowan University, Western AustraliaFarmleighFuller Craft Museum, Massachusetts, USAGandel Group of Companies, corporate collection, Melbourne, Australia Harold Schenberg CollectionHartley PoyntonHolmes à Court Gallery (Heytesbury Holdings)Launceston Art Gallery, Tasmania, AustraliaMAK Museum, Frankfurt, GermanyManly Art Gallery and Museum, New South Wales, AustraliaMarco Polo Corporation, SingaporeMethodist Ladies College, Perth Western AustraliaMuseo del Ceramica, Faenza, ItalyMuseum of Modern Art, Gifu, JapanMuseum and Art Gallery of Northern Territory, NTNational Gallery of Australia National Library of AustraliaNational Museum of Scotland, London UKNewcastle Art Gallery, AustraliaNovosirbirsk State Gallery, Siberia RussiaPalazza del Colsole, Gubbio Italy Perth Galleries, Western AustraliaQueensland Art Gallery, AustraliaRosenbaum Brynmaur Collection, USAShire of Diamond Valley, AustraliaShire of Swan, Western AustraliaTasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, AustraliaTelstra Murdoch Collection, AustraliaThe Gifu Prefectural Museum, Tokyo, JapanThe Grain Pool of Western Australia Seoul, KoreaThe Powerhouse: Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences, AustraliaThe Republic of Ireland, DublinTomsk State Gallery and Museum, Siberia RussiaToowoomba University, Queensland, Australia21st Century Museum, Kanazawa, JapanUniversity of Western Australia, Western AustraliaUSSR Trade Union OfficialPublic and private collections throughout Australia, Germany, Hong Kong,India, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Paris, Russia, Singapore, Switzerland, UK and USA

BIBLIOGRAPHYOver 70 publications: Books, catalogues and ReviewsAmerican Foundation COL LECTions, catalogueAndreani, Carole (2005) La revue de la ceramique et du Verre, March-April Australian Art & Society 1901-2001 (2001) National Gallery of Australia (NGA) Federation, ACT, catalogueArt on View (2002) National Gallery of Australia, ACTBromfield, Dr David (2000) Ceramics Art & Perception

Bromfield, Dr David (2002) Ceramics Art & Perception, December Bromfield, Dr David (2003) Neue Keramik (New Ceramics), January- February Bromfield, Dr David (2002) Ceramics Art & Perception Technical Magazine Carnegie, Daphne (1993) Tin Glazed EarthenwareCeramic as Expression (2005) 3rd World Ceramic Biennale 2005, Korea, catalogueContemporary Australian Craft, The Powerhouse Museum Sydney, NSW, catalogueDoerhoerfer, Pamela (2002) The German Review,Dr Bonjani Gian Carlo, Vitalita Perenne del Lustro, Faenza Museum, Italy, catalogueDr Dorothy Erickson, Artlink MagazineDysart, Dinah/Dunn, Jackie (2001) ArtbankGirard, Sylvie (2006) Director – La revue de la Ceramique et du Verre: Editional, March-AprilGoldgate, Steven, World Encyclopedia of Ceramic Art and ArtistsHull Andrea, Artlink MagazineIannou, Norris (1997) Masters of their Craft: Contemporary Decorative and Applied Arts in AustraliaLane, Peter (1997) Ceramic Form: Design and Decoration (revised) Lane, Peter (1993) Contemporary Studio Porcelain (New Edition), NovemberLane, Peter (1995) Porcelain Lockwood, Ken (2004) Craft Arts InternationalLourens (2004) Sint Joseph Galerie Dutch Magazine, St Joseph Galerie Organiseert Internationale Porselein expositie, November Mansfield, Janet (1995) Contemporary Art in Australia and New ZealandMaterial Culture - Aspects of Contemporary Australian Craft & Design (2002) Art BankObjects Gallery, Sydney, NSW, catalogueMilner, Sally (2002) Master Works – Decorative & Functional ArtNational Gallery of Australia (2002) Art on ViewOstermann, Matthias (2003) The Ceramic Surface, March Perspective, The Museum of Modern Ceramic Art, Gifu, Japan, cataloguePetersen Susan (2000) Contemporary Ceramics LondonPetersen, Susan (1999) Craft and Art of Clay (3rd Edition)Petersen, Susan (2001) Smashing GlazesPowerhouse Museum NSW (2001) Australian Ceramic Directory Recovery of Use (2003) International Invitation Exhibition, Korea, catalogue Smith, Damian (2004) Ceramic Art and Perception International MagazineSnell, Ted (2007), Pippin Drysdale: Lines of Site, MonographSnell, Ted (2007), Pippin Drysdale: Kimberly Series, catalogueSnell, Ted (2005) British Ceramic Review, January-February Snell, Ted (2005) Form magazineSt Joseph Galerie (2004), Organiseert Internationale Porselein expositie, Holland, reviewThe Canberra Review (2002)The Museum of Modern Ceramic Art, Gifu, The Legacy of Modern Ceramic Art, Part II – Modern Ceramic Art from an International PerspectiveWorld Competition of Arts & Crafts, Kanazawa Invitational Exhibition, Japan, catalogueThe Museum of Modern Art, Shiga, Japan, catalogueThe National Ceramic Magazine of South Africa (1999)The Newcastle Regional Art Gallery (2005), NSW, catalogueThe Takaoka Art Museum, Japan, catalogueThorpe, in Association with the National Association for the Visual Arts (1995) Who’s Who of Australian Visual ArtistsTransformations, The Language of Craft (2005) The National Gallery of Australia, ACT, catalogueV&A London: CO[ ]ECT (2003 and 2004) The British Crafts Council, catalogueWardell, Sasha, Ceramic Text Book, Crowood PressWhyman, Caroline (1995) The Complete Potter – Porcelain(2002) The Canberra Review, 6 April(2002) The Canberra Review, 6-19 May

REPRESENTED BYAxia Modern Art Melbourne, VicBeaver Galleries, Canberra, ACTCarlin Galerie, Paris Contemporary Ceramic Art Gallery, Sydney, NSWContemporary Ceramic Art Gallery, Sydney, NSWGalerie Marianne Heller, Heidelberg, GermanyKunstfurun Kirchberg Galerie, SwitzerlandMichael Reid, Sydney, NSWPerth Galleries, Subiaco, WAPULS Galerie, BrusselsQuest, Bath, England The Jam Factory, Adelaide, SAThe Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland

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LIST of WORKs

All works glazed porcelain and courtesy of the artist unless otherwise stated.

1. Tanami Traces Series, 2001-20062. Tanami Traces Series, 2001-20063. Tanami Traces Series, 2001-20064. Tanami Traces Series I, 20035. Tanami Traces Series, 2001–20066. Kimberley Series I, 20077. Kimberley Series I, 20078. Kimberley Series I, 2007, courtesy of David Sutton9. Kimberley Series I, 200710. Kimberley Series I, 200711. Kimberley Series I, 2007, courtesy of David Sutton12. Kimberley Series I, 200713. Construction Slab Platter, slipped stoneware, courtesy of Jan and

Christopher Withers14. City Lights Slab Platter, slipped stoneware, courtesy of Jan and

Christopher Withers15. Logging on Parchment Series I, porcelain/stoneware16. Logging on Parchment Series Chip Burst, porcelain/stoneware,

courtesy of Leslie Chalmers17. City Scape, slipped stoneware18. Carnival Fruit Series, maiolica, courtesy of Cate and Mark

Hohnen19. Totem Series, maiolica20. Blue and White Bowl, courtesy of Carolyn Boranga21. Over The Top Russian Series Effigy 2 22. Over The Top Russian Series, lustred porcelain, courtesy of Edith

Cowan University Art Collection23. Eastern Goldfields Series III Sea Escape24. Untitled Banff25. Breakaway Series I, lustred porcelain26. Pinnacle Series III, courtesy of Jánis Nedéla and David Forrest27. Eastern Goldfields Series I Infinity, lustred porcelain, courtesy of

Heather and Darryl Smalley28. Eastern Goldfields Series III, courtesy of Liz and Robin Forbes29. Pinnacles Series II, courtesy of Heather and Darryl Smalley30. Eastern Goldfields Series III, lustred porcelain31. Eastern Goldfields Series I, lustred porcelain, courtesy of Cate and

Mark Hohnen32. Eastern Goldfields Series II, lustred porcelain, courtesy of Sandra

and Ron Wise 33. Eastern Goldfields Series II, lustred porcelain, courtesy of the

lender34. Pinnacles Series Circles of Fire, courtesy of Katherine Kalaf35. Eastern Goldfields Series II, lustred porcelain, courtesy of Heather

and Darryl Smalley36. Pinnacles Series Dawn, Kerry Stokes Collection, Perth37. Pinnacles Series Horizon, Kerry Stokes Collection, Perth38. Pinnacles Series Desert Noon, Kerry Stokes Collection, Perth39. Pinnacles Series I, courtesy of Liz and Robin Forbes40. Pinnacles Series Harlequin Piece, courtesy of the lender41. North Series 42. North Series Argyle Trilogy I, courtesy of Derek Gascoine43. North Series Argyle Trilogy III, courtesy of Derek Gascoine44. North Series Argyle Trilogy II, courtesy of Derek Gascoine45. North Series Right of Passage; Ubirr, courtesy of Liz and Robin

Forbes

46. North Series, courtesy of Heather and Darryl Smalley47. North Series Dance of the Ochre’s48. North Series, courtesy of Sandra and Ron Wise49. North Series, courtesy of Sandra and Ron Wise50. North Series, courtesy of Sandra and Ron Wise51. Pakistan Series I Pashmina Shadows52. North Series Concealed Ritual, courtesy of Sandra and Ron Wise53. Pakistan Series I Hamzad (Spiritual Shadow) 54. Pakistan Series Iris, courtesy of Heather and Darryl Smalley55. Pakistan Series I Sona Saneer (Golden Dawn)56. Pakistan Series I Sangeen (Intensity)57. Tanami Traces Series I Khizan Hunza Terraces58. Pakistan Series I Changa-Manga I 59. Tanami Traces Series I Transition Work60. Tanami Traces Series II, courtesy of Karen Phillips and Robert Frith 61. Tanami Traces Series IV/V62. Tanami Traces Series II, courtesy of Karen Phillips and Robert Frith63. Tanami Traces Series II, Bungle Bungle Kununnurra, courtesy of Liz

and Robin Forbes64. Tanami Traces Series V, courtesy of Karen Phillips and Robert Frith65. Tanami Traces Series IV/ V66. Tanami Traces Series IV/ V67–174 Tanami Traces, 2001-2006, includes works courtesy of: Sally

Cox; Jánis Nedéla and David Forrest; Karen Phillips and Robert Frith.175–308 Kimberley Series, 2006-2007, includes works courtesy of: Mary

Moore; Karen Phillips and Robert Frith; Ted Snell; David Sutton.

Foyer Rest AreaThe paintings on the walls are by Indigenous artists and are from the private collection of Pippin Drysdale. These works are presented as they have directly influenced the development of the Tanami and Kimberley series of works.

309 Queenie McKenzie, Mingmarriya Country, ed. 6/99, screenprint, 51 x 71cm

310 Mary Nalmalakka, Baramundi Fish Trap, 2004, natural grasses and dyes, Pandanus Spiralis, 130 x 40cm

311 Queenie McKenzie, Nimerriddi, 1998, ochres on canvas, 60 x 80cm

312 Makinti Napanangka, Untitled, 1998, acrylic on linen, 91 x 91cm

313 Kitty Kintilla, Untitled, 1998, natural earth pigments and synthetic binder on linen, 100 x 103cm

The digital presentation prepared by Will Snell features photographs by Frances Andrijich, Adrian Lambert and Robert Frith documenting Pippin Drysdale and her collaborators working in the studio.

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Pippin Drysdale: Lines of SiteJohn Curtin Gallery22 June – 12 August 2007

Published and distributed by John Curtin Gallery Curtin University of TechnologyBuilding 200Kent Street, Bentley Western Australia 6102Phone: +61 (0)8 9266 4155Fax: +61 (0)8 9266 3878Email: gallery@curtin.edu.auWebsite: www.johncurtingallery.curtin.edu.au

Publication copyright 2006 John Curtin GalleryText copyright © Jeanette Hacket © Ted Snell

All rights reserved

This exhibition catalogue is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private research, criticism or review, as permitted under the copyright act, no material whether written or photographic may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of the artist, authors and Curtin University of Technology. The opinions expressed in this catalogue are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the John Curtin Gallery or Curtin University of Technology.

ISBN: 1-76067-526-6.

Curator: Ted SnellEditors: Barbara Cotter, Chris Malcolm and Pauline Williams Designer: Milton Andrews, Square Peg DesignPhotography: XXXXXXXXX

GALLERY ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSThe John Curtin Gallery would like to extend their sincere thanks to Pippin Drysdale for her commitment and dedication to this exhibition.

Pippin Drysdale: Lines of Site is the second in the Australian Artists Series, generously sponsored by IBT Education. The John Curtin Gallery extends their gratitude to IBT Education.

CURATOR’S ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSThank you also to the John Curtin Gallery’s installation crew: Patti Belletty, Andrew Britton, Lorence Cestrilli, Stephen Cestrilli, Barbara Cotter, Marwa (Addam) Eid, Vashti Innes-Brown, Sean Mitchell, Xavier Pardos, Brendan van Hek and Pauline Williams for their dedication and professionalism.

IMAGE CAPTIONS

Cover Kimberley Series installation detail, Northern Gallery

Front inside cover Tanami Traces surface detail

P2-3 Installation view northwards from Southern Gallery

P4-5 Tanami Traces installation detail Central Gallery

P6-7 Tanami Traces installation detail Central Gallery

P8-9 Installation view from Central Gallery (Tanami Traces) towards Southern Gallery

P10 Tanami Traces detail

P11 Tanami Traces installation detail

P12 Kimberley Series installation detail

P14 Warwick Palmateer throwing a tall vessel, Drysdale studio 2007

P15 Kimberley Series installation detail Northern Gallery

P16 Kimberley Series surface detail

P17 Pippin Drysdale working the surface of an open form, Drysdale studio 2007

P18-19 Kimberley Series installation detail, Northern Gallery

P20-21 Kimberley Series installation view, Northern Gallery

P22-23 Kimberley Series installation detail, Northern Gallery

P24-25 Kimberley Series installation view, Northern Gallery

P26-27 Installation view southwards from Northern Gallery – Kimberley Series in foreground

Rear inside cover Installation view digital presentation/documentation

Foyer Rest AreaThe paintings on the walls are by Indigenous artists and are from the private collection of Pippin Drysdale. These works are presented as they have directly influenced the development of the Tanami and Kimberley series of works.

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Not sure of code??

I would like to thank the John Curtin Gallery, in particular, Professor Ted Snell, editors Barbara Cotter, Chris Malcolm and Pauline Williams, the catalogue designer Milton Andrews of Square Peg Design, and the John Curtin Gallery installation crew: Patti Belletty, Andrew Britton, Lorence Cestrilli, Stephen Cestrilli, Marwah (Addam) Eid, Vashti Innes-Brown, Sean Mitchell, Xavier Pardos, Mike Singe, Jann Thompson and Brendan Van Hek for their dedication and professionalism.

Thank you to all of the sponsors who have made this exhibition a great success:

Acorn Photo Agency, ArtsWA, Australia Council for the Arts, IBT Education, Lotterywest, The West Australian and Were Estate.

I feel it is extremely important to give a special mention to Robert Frith and Adrian Lambert for their years of dedication and commitment to cataloguing my work, which plays an important role in an artist’s career on an international scale.

Thank you to all of the public and private collectors who have supported me throughout my career, including Robert Bell, Robin and Liz Forbes, and Darryl and Heather Smalley. A special thank you to those who have loaned their collection for the survey aspect of this exhibition.

The most special thanks go to my team who have assisted me over many years to create this major body of work. Words can’t express my gratitude and appreciation for all the dedication and assistance given to me by Warrick Palmateer, without whom my career would not have been possible. I would also like to make a special mention to Michael Kusnik, who I refer to as my “glaze master”, for his brilliant knowledge of ceramic chemistry which has enabled me to develop the rich colour

palettes that distinguish my work. Another invaluable part of my team is Nathan Bray, who has created and recreated my entire studio over the years. I have constantly thrown technical challenges at him, which he resolves like magic. And finally, Amber Ward who has assisted me over many years with just a few of her many talents as glaze technician, administrator and fabulous cook.

There are a number of important artistic peers and writers who have assisted me over the years with monographs, catalogues and government grants: Ted Snell, Grace Cochran, Maggie Baxter, Margaret Moore, Dorothy Erickson and David Bromfield.

An honourable mention to some close friends who are always there for me through thick and thin: Carolyn Boranga, Jane Brazier, Lesley Chalmers, Sally Cox, David Forrest and Janis Nedela, Joss Gregson, Jane Hohnen, Inam Khan Annemarie and Kerry McAuliffe, Mary Moore and Jan Withers.

Finally, an honourable mention to Nora Ohrt of Perth Galleries who has been my friend and colleague as well as representing my work over several decades.

Last but not least, I would like to make a special commendation to my most dedicated German dealer, Marianne Heller, from Galerie Marianne Heller, Heidelberg, Germany, who discovered me nine years ago and launched my work into the European and British markets.

Of course, throughout an artist’s journey, there are always so many people and connections that enter their world, so it is difficult to acknowledge all. Thank you to all who have been part of this journey with me.

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