Happy Wanderer
Josephine Backhouse
Happy Wanderer (detail) 2026
Porcelain, nichrome wire, resin
Multiple glazes
18 x 24 x 15 cm
About the Artwork
This porcelain assemblage merges hybrid spinifex seed pod forms with the familiar geometry of a discarded bottle, bringing together organic growth and human-made objects. Inspired by coastal environments where natural fragments and marine debris accumulate through wind and tide, the work reflects on landscapes shaped by continual cycles of erosion, dispersal, and rebirth. The bottle is transformed from an object of consumption into a vessel for regeneration, with delicate botanical elements emerging from and enveloping its surface. Rather than dwelling on environmental decline, the sculpture offers hope for the future, celebrating nature’s capacity to adapt and reclaim. Through porcelain, the sculpture considers resilience, evolution, and the enduring possibility of renewal.
About the Artist
Josephine Backhouse is an Australian ceramic artist working between Naarm/Melbourne and Ōtautahi/ Christchurch, Aotearoa New Zealand. Her sculptural ceramics are informed by her close observation of coastal environments and the collection of natural materials such as seed pods, bark, shells, and driftwood. Her practice centres on hand-built ceramic sculpture and assemblage using porcelain and mixed firing and construction techniques.
Josephine has various qualifications in visual art, museum studies, and art history, and more recently in ceramics, earning a Graduate Diploma in Ceramic Arts from the Dunedin School of Art, Otago, in 2025. Josephine has exhibited widely across Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia, and has been selected as a finalist in several national and international awards, including the Ceramics New Zealand National Award (2025) and the Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize (2026).