2024 biennial North Queensland Ceramic Awards

Winner of the Rainford Family Award – $500 Non-Acquisitive

Lilach Mileikowski Nestled 2023

About the Artist

Lilach Mileikowski is a ceramic artist based in Naarm/ Melbourne. Originally from Israel with a background in graphic design, Lilach migrated to Australia in 1995, completed a Diploma of Arts Ceramics, followed by an Advanced Diploma of Creative Product Development. In 2016 she completed a Master of Fine Art at RMIT University, with her research focusing on the spiritual and political concerns of identity exploring the dual notions of fragility and strength.

Lilach’s work is held in private collections in Australia and internationally. She has been included in prestigious exhibitions, such as the International Ceramics Festival, Mino, Japan; Gold Coast International Ceramic Art Award, Qld; Victorian Ceramic Art Award; Muswellbrook Art Prize, NSW; Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize, NSW; and The Lake Macquarie Art Prize, NSW.

Most recently, her work was celebrated in a solo show SUSTENANCE (2023), was selected as a finalist for the Yering Station Sculpture Exhibition, Victoria (2024), and for the Australian Ceramics Association Exhibition HELD, NSW (2024). Invited by the Interior Designer Simone Haag, Lilach will be participating in the Craft Victoria end-of-year show, Fables & Folklore, Victoria, November 2024 – January 2025.

About the Artwork

This artwork is about connection, human fragility, and the search for fortitude and cultural integration. Nestled by the form are delicate porcelain parchments inscribed with a sacred Hebrew prayer. “Birkat-HaKohanim” is traditionally recited as a farewell blessing for loved ones, wishing for wellbeing and sustenance. Fused into the form, it reflects on the dual notion of the need to comfort and protect and the need of being sheltered.

Presenting ideas of personal and universal significance, this work conveys a fusion of many disparate elements: clay to fabric, nature to man-made, past to present, frozen moment to eternity. Reflecting on nature’s malleable way of reproduction and its way of shielding vulnerable organs, the organic shaped forms are repeated and joined, creating one whole. Each component exists to balance the other, resulting in a work that is simultaneously precarious and resilient. A metaphor for the migrant experience.

_{Image: Lilach Mileikowski Nestled 2023, Stoneware clay, porcelain slip, layered ceramic glaze materials, textured fabric, screen-print stain application, dry glazes, multiple firing, 21 x 30 x 16 cm. Image courtesy the artist.}

Winner of the Jackson Family Award, in memory of Graham and Betty Jackson – $500 Non-Acquisitive

Lea Durie Mingling 2023

About the Artist

Lea Durie is based in Braidwood, NSW, and holds a Master of Contemporary Art Practice from the Australian National University (2024).

Lea has been the recipient of several awards, including the Belconnen Arts Centre Emerging Artist Award and The Craft + Design Canberra Emerging Contemporaries Award (both 2023). The same year, Lea received a Highly Commended mention at the Klytie Pate National Ceramic Award (2023) and won the QPRC 3D Art Award (2023). She also won the Canberra Potters Society Doug Alexander Award (2021).

Lea’s work has appeared in numerous group exhibitions. In early 2024, she undertook an environmental art residency at BigCi in Bilpin, NSW, and held a solo exhibition in the Craft + Design Canberra Crucible Space. Later in 2024, Lea will hold a solo exhibition at the Belconnen Arts Centre.

About the Artwork

Mingling is an exploration of a new place within an ancient landscape, and how care and responsibility might appear with an engagement beyond the human. What happens when the clean, human architecture of a new suburb is mingled with the labours of my urban human body and the nonhuman 350 million-year-old clay that lies just beneath the surface?

This new form of occupation seeks to smooth the surface of a landscape carrying the scars of extreme weather events and human habitation, covering it white. I seek out the messy stuff beneath the surface and begin an entanglement with this living matter.

Through this sensory engagement with the landscape, an animal–vegetable mineral cluster takes shape. A tension is created and then eased; friction flares and then subsides. The thing force of the wild clay combines with the thing force of me. I consider our mutual responsibility in caring for this place.

_{Image: Lea Durie Mingling 2023, Wild clay, midfire terracotta clay, slips, underglaze, glazes, liquid quartz, White glaze, 26 x 36 cm. Image courtesy the artist.}

Winner of the EV2 Sportswear Award – $2,000 Acquisitive

Pru Morrison A Tribute to a Holy Man 2023

About the Artist

Pru Morrison has a bachelor’s degree in Visual Arts from the City Art Institute, NSW University (1985), a Certificate in Art from Newcastle TAFE (1982), and an Advanced Diploma of Arts (Ceramics) from Southbank TAFE (2000). Since then, she has been a practising artist, interpreting thoughts and conversations that manifest as an intimate and personal language of art through clay. Pru has exhibited in many galleries nationally, the most notable being Ray Hughes Gallery in the mid-2000s. According to the artist, “The most enjoyable part of my practice is collecting, recording and finally fashioning ideas and data into a considered work of ceramic art.”

About the Artwork

Here is a portrait of a holy man. He was a chain smoker with a big nose and dark eyes. He was gentle and private and wore long white socks held up with elastic garters. They were always paired with bone shorts densely sprinkled with ash burns. He liked people, so he made clumsily made cheese sandwiches on thick white bread for anyone who was hungry. His best friend was Billy Green who unexpectedly choked on a chop in 2001. RIP Billy Green.

This holy man with cartoonish features flashed and blazed in my life as my father.

_{Image: Pru Morrison A Tribute to a Holy Man 2023, Earthenware and terra sigillata, Terra sigillata, 50 x 21 cm. Image courtesy the artist.}

Winner of the City of Townsville Art Collection Award – $10,000 Acquisitive

Ruby Yu-Lu Yeh Of Motherhood 2024

About the Artist

Ruby Yu-Lu Yeh is a Taiwanese–Australian ceramic artist in Meanjin/Brisbane. She uses wheel-throwing and hand-building techniques to create and develop works that can be sculptural and/or functional. Ruby’s current exploration focuses on creating larger vessels as an internal dialogue between her Eastern upbringing and Western education. Ruby has exhibited in Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney and during her residency in Japan. She was a finalist in the National Emerging Art Prize (2021 and 2023) and a finalist with a Highly Commended Award in The Siliceous Award for Ceramics Excellence (2023).

About the Artwork

This work relates to my thoughts surrounding motherhood, my mother, the women I’ve met, and my friends who became mothers. I reflected on the societal expectations of women, especially as I find myself in my mid-30s surrounded by both seasoned and new mothers. I contemplated the physical and emotional strength of my mother, giving birth to my premature brother alone in a foreign country. I thought about the challenges of infertility, IVF, pregnancy, and miscarriage.

These reflections stirred a profound emotional response within me. Through an open call for anonymous words from other people’s contemplations on the topic, I found solace in their words as I wrote them onto my vessel. This vessel is a tribute to all the women I have encountered, whether childless or not, contemplating motherhood, struggling to conceive, or dealing with societal expectations. I want them to read the words, contribute their own stories, and create a sense of togetherness.

_{Image: Ruby Yu-Lu Yeh Of Motherhood 2024, Stoneware Iron oxide calligraphy; sprayed glaze, 70 x 45 x 46 cm. Image courtesy the artist.}

Winner of the People’s Choice Award – $1,000 Non-Acquisitive

Liz Ranger-Craven, Turning a Blind Eye 2024

About the Artist

Liz Ranger-Craven immigrated to Australia from South Africa in 2011 and currently resides in Mackay, Queensland. She studied fine art at university, majoring in printmaking and sculpture; this instigated her passion for clay. All her works are primarily an ode to earth, with clay the medium to explore the interplay between nature and the human condition.

Liz has participated in several exhibitions over the years in both South Africa and Australia. She has received recognition and several awards, and has been commissioned to do and run several projects for public works and community upliftment projects.

After arriving in Australia, it took some time before Liz was able to pursue her passion once more. In 2021 she was able to start a studio and has immersed herself in her work, also offering classes and workshops. Clay is her primary medium of expression, with its organic malleability and responsiveness to her ideas. Her unique hand-built pieces are bold and highly expressive—often simple shapes covered in vibrant colour, or detailed textures, patterns and symbols. Layers of underglazes, stains, glazes and lustres are built to create a feeling of decorative excess reflecting layers of Australian environment and lives. Liz captures moments, striving to be evocative, and encouraging people to look below the surface and relate to the story being told.

About the Artwork

One of the most damaging parts of our society is environmental ignorance, often wilfully—‘turning a blind eye’ and choosing to ignore and avoid facing facts. I am compelled to create work in response to the realities of our natural environment, as our world is grappling with many ecological challenges. Climate change, habitat destruction, and unsustainable resource exploitation all have a huge impact on our natural world. I depict the fragility and beauty of nature, using a bird in this piece as its representation; and how we are ultimately responsible for nature’s ongoing decline, but could likewise be responsible for any success in its protection. I hope to encourage a relationship and connection between the natural world and ourselves, and to instigate conversation. This is only possible with increased awareness.

Three figures display the birds like medals pinned to the chest, slowly losing all sign of life. Humans still exploit nature to better their own circumstance and increase standing in our modern world, where greater financial gain is seen as the perpetual goal. The figures gradually grow in stature as the impact on nature becomes more evident

_{Image:  Liz Ranger-Craven, Turning a Blind Eye 2024. Hand-built stoneware, 53 x 90 x 63 cm. Image courtesy the artist.}

Finalists

The finalist selection for the 2024 exhibition was:

1. Kelly Austin Stilled Composition 118
2. Noel Brady Gaza Gathering.
3. Steven Carson Maybe it's there # 1.
4. Mandy Chen Mycelium Unearthed
5. Mandy Chen Mind Bubbles in the Coral Reef
6. Zara Collins She always hated cold feet
7. Zara Collins Aide-memoire
8. Len Cook Blossom jar
9. Margaret Crawford PANDANUS view
10. Johanna DeMaine and Tatsuya Tsutsui Ma:The Space in Between
11. Lorraine Dean bloom
12. Tony Di Giacomo Golden Dream
13. Kate Dorrough Fusion, River Icon
14. Jan Downes Materialised
15. Lea Durie Mingling
16. Aurora Elwell Desire
17. Cathy Franzi Western Mountain Banksia
18. Susan Frost Shades of Light
19. Andrew Gall Expanding Tradition
20. Minna Graham Paperbark
21. Drew Green Jettison
22. Baylee Griffin Corymbia ficifolia
23. Jeananne Hawthorn Contemplation of Yaweh
24. Fiona Hiscock Reverie (Bee Eater)
25. Bonnie Hislop Never Worked A Day In My Life
26. Marianne Huhn Through the trees
27. Nicci Parry Jones Mental Notes
28. Janetta Kerr-Grant Breakwater 2
29. Jen Lanz Return to earth
30. Michelle Le Plastrier I Can't Remember Why I Came To This Room (Self Portrait)
31. Michelle Le Plastrier Riot
32. Samuel Leighton-Dore Threadbare
33. Margaret Lilley Lagynos
34. Margaret Lilley Pastiche Vase 1
35. Margaret Lilley [Pastiche Vase 2]
36. Simone Linder-Patton Gathering Moss
37. Lachlan Mackee Golden Bridge Form 2
38. Annie Mangen Bird in Ruff
39. Gillian Martin Pistachio Gelato
40. Fiona McDonald holding space | nested memory
41. Moraig McKenna Trug with silver repair
42. Jean McMaster Dry Season Jar
43. Lilach Mileikowski NESTLED
44. Pamela Miller River bed II
45. Pru Morrison A tribute to a Holy Man
46. Jude Muduioa The Space I Hold for You
47. Julie Nash Hindsight
48. Alice Nixon Remain Quiet
49. Kim Nolan Fractured
50. Kim Nolan Stoic
51. Susan Nuttall Roots in Clay and Cane
52. Jane Orme Cycle
53. Sarah Ormonde Field Notes from Home
54. Emma J V Parker Altogether Hidden
55. Bill Powell [Untitled]
56. Nani Puspasari She Lifts, She Smirks
57. Danish Quapoor stubborn forces
58. Liz Ranger-Craven Reflections: Catch me I'm Falling when it rains.
59. Liz Ranger-Craven Turning a Blind Eye.
60. Tess Rapa Dusk
61. Fenja T. Ringl Spare Wings
62. Fran Romano memento mori III
63. Angie Russi Windswept
64. Leonie Ryan Art of Reading
65. Bridget Saville A Force of Attraction
66. Lotte Schwerdtfeger Sympoiesis
67. Roshni Senapati For those who walked before me
68. Arun Sharma Childhood
69. Mineko Shimazawa Frost Flowers
70. Mineko Shimazawa Let There Be Light
71. Alexandra Standen everyday ballon
72. Neridah Stockley Blue Shadow
73. Simon Suckling Large Bowl with Noisy Minor and Grevillia
74. Tom Summers Steiner Monument
75. Philippa Taylor In the Light & Dark, I See You.
76. Wendy Thurgate Untitled
77. Susan Trimble A Charm of the Double-barred Finches
78. Tania Verdez Wunderkammer Woman
79. Caroline Walker-Grime Twenty-Nine Pounds
80. Steph Wallace Eruption Grouping
81. Larissa Warren Sorbet Dreams
82. Ian Whittaker Tall Ship 2
83. Philomena Yeatman Clay Basket
84. Ruby Yu-Lu Yeh Of Motherhood

Judge

Jann Kesby

Jann Kesby’s hands-on training began in a production workshop on the outskirts of Sydney during the 1970s. This was followed by a traineeship at Sturt Craft Workshops, Mittagong, which was the first production workshop established in Australia. It was here that she was introduced to woodfiring with Janet Mansfield. Following her traineeship, Jann moved back to the mid north coast New South Wales, where she established her own workshop just outside of Kempsey. For over 40 years, she has contributed to the arts more broadly as a teacher at the local TAFE and schools, as well as managing Dunghutti Ngaku Aboriginal Art Gallery from 2009 to 2018.

Jann has built several kilns over the years. First was a phoenix fast fire kiln, inspired by her time in Mittagong. But this kiln wasn’t to last, as it was designed for firing with pine. Given the large quantities of accessible, locally fallen hardwood in the area, she embraced a new firing method in the bourry box kiln, built in 1984 with a double firebox. The bourry lasted over 100 firings, and was replaced with Asha the catenary arch in 2018, which can be fired in 24–30 hours.

In 2006, Jann attended a residency in Tokoname, Japan, which renewed her inspiration and energy for different methods of firing. Upon her return, she constructed a Japanese kiln called an anagama, which is still in use today. The anagama is fired for 100+ hours. Jann states “I enjoy firing both Asha, the catenary arch, and Minkie, my anagama, each year in an endeavour to explore the vast variety of wood-fired effects.”

Lauren Turton

Lauren Turton is an Australian curator specialising in contemporary Australian art from 1970 to the present. She is interested in socially engaged arts practice, particularly the intersection of locality, place and identity themes. She is the curator at Artspace Mackay, and in 2023 presented the major ceramic retrospective Fire and Ash: The Woodfire Pottery of Arthur and Carol Rosser. She is a current board member of Crossroad Arts, all-abilities multi-arts organisation.

Lauren has a Master of Art Administration (Curating and Cultural Leadership), with a focus on regional arts programming. Having grown up in a regional area, one of Lauren’s key career goals is to strengthen cultural communities and to ensure galleries are accessible for all audiences throughout Australia.

Louise Watson

Louise Watson has been passionate about pottery for over 30 years, starting pottery classes in 1986 with a TAFE certificate in Art Studies – Ceramics and a Certificate of Art and Design in 1999. Throughout her moves, she has always connected with the local pottery community, joining the North Queensland Potters Association (NQPA) in 2014. A dedicated member, Louise has served on the NQPA committee for a decade, including as President. Currently, she teaches a class at NQPA, where she enjoys sharing ideas and contributing to the pottery community in Townsville.

David Ray

David Ray is a contemporary ceramic artist, working and living in the Yarra Valley, on the traditional lands of the Wurundjeri people in Victoria. Over his 30- year career, he has established himself as one of Australia’s leading ceramic artists. His ceramics have built a reputation for being wild and flamboyant Baroque creations that incorporate an abundance of colours, textures and decals onto handcrafted vessels. David’s art offers a wry commentary on contemporary consumerism and the less-celebrated aspects of Australian cultural life.

David explores the products of 18^th century ceramic manufacturers, including Wedgwood, Spode and Sèvres, as representations of conspicuous consumption. The notions of display and privilege inherent in these objects inform his work, which questions the role of ceramics in society as both utilitarian objects and as symbols of wealth and status. His work subverts classical forms with contemporary concerns and often explores the complex relationship between beauty and ugliness. The ‘hand of the maker’ is an idealistic notion he holds dear within his making process and is always distinctive within his work through the intentional contrast between the consistency and refinement of manufactured porcelain with his irregular, hand-moulded shapes.

David’s artwork is held in numerous Australian and international collections, including the National Gallery of Victoria, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Clay Studio Philadelphia, University of Queensland Museum of Art, and Victoria College of the Arts Margaret Lawrence Australian Ceramics Collection. He has been the recipient of numerous art awards, including Winner of Excellence Award at the Victorian Craft Awards (2019); Manningham Victorian Ceramic Art Prize (2017); and was a finalist in the Basil Sellers Award in 2016 and 2010.