Mum and Me: Forged in the firebox
Jenna Catchpole
Mum and Me: Forged in the firebox (detail) 2026
Stoneware
Unglazed, raw clay, layers of sally wattle wood ash
Multiple pieces: 38 x 34 x 34 cm overall
About the Artwork
This work represents my ongoing exploration of memory, connection, and enduring presence. These tall, elegant vessels are created and fired as a pair, occupying the kiln together throughout the duration of the firing. Pairing operates as both structure and language, where relationship is not depicted, but enacted through proximity, interdependence, and shared transformation.
The vessels emerge as relational bodies—mother and daughter, witness and companion—connected beyond the physical world. Woodfired together in the firebox of an anagama kiln for 80 hours continuously, they were immersed in the kiln’s most intense environment, where flame, ash, and atmosphere became collaborators. Created from raw clay with no applied glaze, their surfaces reveal layers of wood ash, colour, texture, and carbon trapping. Each mark is a record of the fire’s passage: an unrepeatable testament to the connection, resilience, and enduring bond that exists between a mother and daughter.
About the Artist
Jenna Catchpole is a Meanjin/Brisbane-based ceramic artist whose relationship with clay began in childhood alongside her mother, a potter. After a period of personal loss, she returned to ceramics and has studied for 14 years under Ray Cavill at Clayschool Brisbane, where she also works as a ceramics teacher and studio technician.
Jenna’s practice explores memory, lineage, presence and absence through wheel-thrown and sculptural vessels. Since discovering woodfiring in 2015, she has travelled across Australia to participate in Anagama and Noborigama firings, embracing the elemental dialogue between maker, flame and atmosphere.
Jenna holds a Bachelor of Visual Media from the Queensland College of Art, Griffith University. Her work is held in the Museum of Brisbane and private collections and has been exhibited nationally. In 2026, she presented her second solo exhibition Her Flame, My Hands at Vacant Assembly, exhibited in Forged in Fire at Jan Manton Gallery, was a finalist in the Ross Creek Gallery Infuse Art Prize, and participated in Clay’s Cool and Women Who Woodfire at Clay Gulgong. She is a recipient of the Queensland Education Minister’s Award for Excellence in Art.