Capsules

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Capsules

  • Artist
    Cindy Tong
  • Dates
    9 Jan—2 Feb 2025
  • Gallery Location
    Murrurundi

Michael Reid is delighted to welcome Cindy Tong back to Murrurundi. Following her immensely successful, sold-out solo exhibition in 2024, Gippsland-based ceramic artist returns with a stunning new collection of elegantly crafted and beautifully textured vessels titled Capsules.

“These vessels are time capsules, holding onto the quiet, often unnoticed beauty of our surrounding flora. Each piece captures a fleeting moment in its life cycle, freezing it in time as a reminder of how delicate and beautiful these stages can be.” says Tong. “These pots reflect the fragility and strength of nature, celebrating the little details we often overlook. They invite us to slow down, look closer, and appreciate the simple beauty that’s always present if we take the time to notice.”

Capsules by Cindy Tong officially commences on Thursday, 9th January 2025, however, visitors to Murrurundi can view and acquire works from this collection from Wednesday 17th December 2024. To discuss an acquisition, please email colinesoria@michaelreid.com.au.

 

Small Curiosities

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Small Curiosities

Raku… The Fire Dance

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Raku… The Fire Dance

  • Artist
    Tina Psarianos
  • Dates
    30 Oct—15 Dec 2024
  • Gallery Location
    Murrurundi

Michael Reid Clay is thrilled to welcome back ceramic artist Tina Psarianos with a new series of work titled Raku…Fire Dance.

The artist’s Raku…Fire Dance series is a beautiful rumination on the alchemy that arises from the meeting of natural elements with the hand of the artist – a dynamic inherent to the medieval Japanese clay-firing technique that gives the collection its title.

“The monochromatic palette allows the forms to speak boldly through contrast, texture and shadow,” says Psarioanos, reflecting on the surface effects that emerge through raku’s highly precarious dance with fire. From sporadic spots and squiggles to delicate, jigsaw-like markings, these exquisite details derive from the artist’s masterful movement between two distinct raku techniques, both honed over 12 years of practice.

“Due to a high attrition rate from breakage caused by abrupt thermal shocks, the excitement in creating each surviving piece is heightened, making them even more valued and prized.”

Please contact colinesoria@michaelreid.com.au to receive a preview catalogue.

Into the Red

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Into the Red

Micharl Reid Murrurundi is thrilled to present Rachel Falls Williams‘ first exhbition Into the Red.

Journeying into the ancient red land of the Pilbara region.

This body of work is a response to a self-funded residency in the Pilbara and seeks to capture the unique colours, textures and details of these dramatic landscapes. From high on hilltops, to deep within the gorges, this work explores both the intimacy and vastness of this place.

The iron rich red of the Hamersley Ranges. The soft veil of spinifex. Rugged landforms and sweeping plains. Formed and then deeply weathered and eroded over millions of years. A literal exploration of the geology and vegetation of the region.

Each work is both functional and an expression of materiality. The slips and glazes incorporate materials sourced on location in the Pilbara including; Snakewood (Acacia xiphophylla) ash collected from the firepit and found iron rich clay and inclusions.

A quiet celebration of the beauty, power and fragility of this ancient landscape.

Please email colinesoria@michaelreid.com.au to receive a preview PDF catalogue.

Shelf Life

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Shelf Life

  • Artist
    Cathy McMichael
  • Dates
    12—30 Jun 2024
  • Gallery Location
    Murrurundi

We are delighted to announce the return of Cathy McMichael to the Michael Reid Clay program.

Following her beautiful showing in the Pour group exhibition curated by Vicki Grima at Michael Reid Northern Beaches last August, McMichael is back with an exquisite new collection of vessels that celebrate the perfect beauty of timeworn imperfection.

Through a skilful and unique approach to ceramics, the artist evokes the nuanced textures of aged and corroded surfaces with gently mottled, worn and variegated patinas that emote elegance, gravitas and grace.

McMichael experiments with rust, oxidation and patination in her glazes, with shadows of dark clays emerging through her work’s tumbled, tarnished, rough-hewn finishes in deep olive greens, mottled mustard, glossy jade and deep rust.

The result is a fabulous interplay between her contemporary sensibilities and an eye for the earthy romanticism and moody historicism of classical artifacts and ancient relics weathered by time.

By playing up the graceful irregularities of the handmade, this collection of pieces forms a perfect complement to Stacey McCall’s new series of quietly sublime, artfully undone still-life paintings, ‘Breathwork’, which is showing concurrently at Michael Reid Murrurundi.

Cathy McMichael’s work is paired with Stacey McCall‘s latest exhibition, Breathwork.

Tow the Line

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Tow the Line

  • Artist
    Jennifer Oh
  • Dates
    29 May—16 Jun 2024
  • Gallery Location
    Murrurundi

Michael Reid Clay is thrilled to welcome Jennifer Oh to our Murrurundi exhibition space with a striking new series of sculptural objects and totemic vessels adorned with ultra-stylish, optically charged graphic motifs.

This exciting solo outing follows the artist’s successful showing in the group exhibition Pour, which was staged at Michael Reid Northern Beaches last August and curated by Vicki Grima.

Born in the Philippines, raised in Australia and now based between Rome and Sydney following a period in London, Oh says her practice is informed by her multiplicity of backgrounds and the various built environments she has encountered on her travels across different states and hemispheres.

Titled Tow The Line, her bold new series of torus-shaped, talismanic sculptures and eye-catching geometric vessels is enlivened by fabulous zigzagging patterns inspired by Op-Art motifs, nautical fashion and the razzle-dazzle camouflage of World War I battleships.

Un/Natural

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Un/Natural

Now on view at Michael Reid Murrurundi, Un/Natural by Elizabeth Lewis is the latest exhibition from our Michael Reid Clay platform and a fabulous expression of the Hunter Valley-born, Sydney-based ceramic artist’s distinctive and exuberant style.

Mixing elegance, verve and a dash of irreverence, the artist aims to conjure up feelings of nostalgia through her ceramics practice. Drawing on craft traditions and motifs from antiquity, her work’s wilder flourishes enliven these touchstones and give mythological narratives a contemporary spin.

Un/Natural is a vibrant collection of sculptural objects and stylised vessels, all alive with voluptuous shapes, playfully off-kilter proportions, hand-pinched impressions, and a palette of intensely pigmented pastels with areas of soft gradation.

Each piece’s mix of writhing, organic elements with classical urn-like structures invites a dynamic interplay between history and modernity, wildness and control, nature and culture, and the balance of malleability and hardness inherent to her medium.

Lewis is an alumnus of Kil.n.it Studios and her work has been exhibited across Australia and internationally. Un/Natural arrives at Murrurundi after her successful showing in Kil.n.it’s group exhibition at Michael Reid Northern Beaches in October 2023.

Cindy Tong ‘Foliole’

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Cindy Tong ‘Foliole’

  • Artist
    Cindy Tong
  • Dates
    17 Apr—5 May 2024
  • Gallery Location
    Murrurundi

Cindy Tong is a ceramic artist based in Sale, Gippsland, drawing inspiration from the intricate patterns of nature. Her diverse body of work explores the delicate details and hidden depths found in natural forms, ranging from foliage to geological structures. This fascination with nature’s nuances is evident as Cindy seamlessly transitions between abstract compositions and her interpretive renderings of Australian flora.

“When you look at a banksia or a gum tree, what do you see? For many, it’s often the iconic flowers, but I find my attention drawn to the intricate details of the leaves. In “Foliole,” I’m proud to unveil a series that celebrates eucalyptus and banksia foliage. This exhibition invites you to discover the mesmerizing patterns that emerge when you take a closer look at natural forms.

Each piece in this collection has been formed on the wheel, and then transformed using techniques such as sgraffito and mishima to mimic the intricate veins and textures of the leaves. The carved and glazed details are complemented by the natural beauty of the clay itself. Through this exploration of form and texture, “Foliole” not only celebrates the beauty of Australian flora but also invites contemplation of the delicate balance between art and nature.”

Fiona Alvarez

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Fiona Alvarez

  • Artist
  • Dates
    20 Mar—14 Apr 2024
  • Gallery Location
    Murrurundi

For the next installation from our Michael Reid Clay platform, Fiona Alvarez has produced a vibrant collection of intimately scaled ceramic vessels that will be on show at Michael Reid Murrurundi at the end of this month.

A ceramic artist living and working in Eora/Sydney, Fiona holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts and has spent many years working across film, design and community art spaces.

Applying flocking fibre and slipcasting techniques, Alvarez sculpts striking, idiosyncratic forms in miniature and coats them with intense pigments to produce a matte, powdery patina almost reminiscent of Luis Barragán’s desert modernism.

From Yves Klein Blue to Schiaparelli Pink, the vessels’ bold palette is enhanced by their subtly textured finish, forming perfectly petite jewels that light up their surroundings.

To register interest and request a preview of works from the series, please contact colinesoria@michaelreid.com.au

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