Kate Robinson

KATE ROBINSON is a painter and ceramicist living and working on Cadigal Land of the Eora Nation in Glebe, Sydney and on Wiradjuri Land at Duramana, via Bathurst, NSW. She holds a BA Hons (USYD) and Certificate (Art) TAFE (East Sydney Technical College). Kate has participated in numerous artists workshops, trips and residencies including northern and central Australia, the Monaro Plains, NSW and Jingdezhen, China. She has participated in three Painted River Projects (WSU) and exhibitions at BAMM Gallery, Moree. Her works have also been shown at Compendium Gallery, Melbourne; Raft Artspace Gallery, Alice Springs; Braemar Gallery, Springwood, Kerrie Lowe Gallery, Newtown; DEA Store, Surry Hills, and Comber Street Gallery and Project Gallery 90, Paddington, among others.

My ceramic sculptures and vessels emerge from sketches and paintings made en plein air.  Richard Powers statement in The Overstory: ‘This is not our world with trees in it. It is a world of trees, where humans have just arrived’ expresses my sense of our place in the natural world upon which we depend, and which we, at our peril, take for granted. Part of what excites me working in ceramics is exploring the interaction of hand-made glazes and porcelain slips on raku clays. The science and art of ceramics-making and glazing proves a rich learning ground about the elemental forces that make and remake this planet. There is so much to find out about – it makes science playful and awesome! And it makes me let go of the artefact, following the process and trusting the outcome. There is a certain serendipity when mixing oxides into the base glazes which has resulted in vessels that represent both the wondrous textures and colours of our native eucalypts, and the volume and presence of Australian landforms.