Jane McKenzie’s art practice has evolved from a life-long preoccupation with making art and a parallel architectural career. She completed a Masters of Fine Arts (Ceramics) at the National Art School in 2018. Clay is McKenzie’s favourite medium; she mostly makes ceramic sculptures inspired by architecture, her art practice also encompasses drawing, painting and printmaking. McKenzie’s work has been included in exhibitions across Australia and bought by collectors internationally. She won the Muswellbrook Art Prize (Ceramics) in 2015 and was a finalist in the Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize in 2019 and the Omnia Art Prize in 2023. She has undertaken residencies at the Fremantle Arts Centre and the Bendigo Pottery.

This exhibition comprises two series of sculptures, both of which were loosely inspired by the built environment. The ‘White’ series pays deference to the fluted white columns of classical architecture, McKenzie applies this aesthetic to more contemporary forms that challenge the structural capabilities of clay. The ‘Melways’ series is a chance for the artist to explore the potential for using a much broader palette of colours and finishes in her forms. Utilising the natural colour of the clay in combination with mat underglazes, glossy glazes and metallic gold leaf. The application of the underglazes references the colourful grids that used to typify street directories, before maps on our phones made these largely obsolete. The patterns are also designed to complement one another when one or more sculptures are placed together. The colours are joyful and the reference to old street directories is nostalgic.

Kaz Davis lives and works on Bidjigal land (Sydney). She completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts at College of Fine Arts UNSW (photography) in 1991 and an Advanced Diploma of Fine Arts at Meadowbank TAFE (sculpture) in 2003. Davis has been working with clay since 2014. She has been shortlisted for numerous art prizes including North Queensland Ceramics Awards (2020 & 2022); Meroogal Women’s Art Prize (2020 & 2022); National Emerging Art Prize (2021 & 2022); Little Things Art Prize (2018, 2019 & 2022); Gosford Art Prize (2018); and Woollahra Sculpture Prize (2002). Davis’s work has been in curated exhibitions including Brunswick Street Gallery (Melbourne, 2021), Gallery 152 (York, WA, 2019), and the Salon des Refuses, at SH Ervin Gallery (Sydney, 2003). Her notable awards include an Australia Council grant (2021) to support the development of new work, winning the National Emerging Art Prize in 2022, and receiving a Create NSW grant in 2023. The Journal of Australian Ceramics published a feature article about Davis’ work written by Chloe Wolifson in the April 2024 issue.

This exhibition: ‘Senescence’ refers to the process of growing old, and sometimes is applied more specifically to the biological process of aging. This series of ceramic paintings embodies the processes of aging, weathering, wear and tear that happen due to the forces of natural elements and the passing of time. This body of work culminates from a period of research spanning the past three years. My research process has included the development of a palette of ceramic “paints” in the form of engobes and ceramic watercolours. Building up multiple layers of “paints”, with the addition of glazes, as well as firing the work multiple times, results in complex, evocative surfaces.

The coastal and industrial landscapes where I live and work serve as reference points. For me, weathered industrial surfaces have the same affective resonance as the natural elements of the coastal landscape. Both natural and human-made elements of these environments: weathered patinas on storage tanks, the worn paintwork and rusting steel of shipping containers and freight trucks at Port Botany, seaweed, banksias, and the ever-changing colours of the ocean and sky – all become part of the symphony of textures woven into the layers of these paintings.

This body of work includes pieces hung on the wall, and vessels placed horizontally on shelves – I regard them all as three-dimensional paintings. These paintings investigate the enigmatic qualities of mundane objects that might be considered neglected, broken, and in need of repair. Senescence contemplates the ineluctable ageing process that all beings and materials are subject to and invites us to consider the beauty inherent in impermanence.

Kaz Davis
April 2024