Judge's Talk with Paul Davies

Transcript

Paul Davies:

One of the things that I look at when I judge ceramic exhibitions is whether or not the piece actually draws the observer into the piece.

Does it have an emotional as well as a technical element to it? And sometimes ceramics can be judged far too much on its technical aspects, rather than the emotional base of the work.

This work is amazing in that it talks about the dilemma of living as a migrant in the Australian landscape, and the emotion that's portrayed in this face. Is it fear? Is it sadness? Is it bewilderment?

All of those things come together in this piece. And the artist says, you know, it talks about the story of a lost child in the bush and that the bush enveloping her when she walks in the Australian bush.

For all of those reasons, apart from the fact that it is so beautifully handled as a technical piece. It's that haunting face that looks into the distance trying to find where do I belong in this new country that I find myself in.

And I kept being drawn back to this piece because it actually has all of the things that I look for when I'm judging a ceramic form.

Judge’s Talk with Paul Davis

Transcript