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Ceramic artist and sculptor

Gill with Holding Light small.jpg

Gillian Hodes

Image: David Hodes

Artist Statement

I am fascinated by contrasts – hard/ soft, ephemeral/ permanent, transparent/ opaque, rough/ smooth. Porcelain is the perfect medium for my exploration of these opposites: it is malleable in its raw form, and very strong yet incredibly fragile after firing. It can be translucent or opaque, and when lit from behind it appears to glow with an inner life.

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Living in beachside Sydney inspires everything I make and do. I incorporate many different techniques into my hand-built porcelain vessels, marking them with the soft blues of the ocean and sky, or the ochres and blacks of the eroded volcanic and sandstone landscape. More recently, I have been developing a series of ultra-thin, and ultra-translucent hand-built porcelain vessels, evoking the wonderful Australian fauna, light and air.

 

One thing I have learned about myself in recent few years is that I love to learn. I’m excited by studying new techniques that I come across and my work is constantly evolving as I incorporate new ideas and methods into my practice.

 

CV

Gillian was born in Zvishavane, a small rural town in Zimbabwe, in Southern Africa.  She grew up immersed in the African bush, surrounded Shona sculpture and African art.  After boarding school in Harare, she went to University in Cape Town, South Africa, graduating with a Commerce/Marketing/Economics degree. In 1999, she emigrated to Sydney, Australia with her family.

 

In 2011 Gillian left the corporate world in search of a calmer and more creative life. She graduated with a BFA Sculpture, from the National Art School and followed this up with a ceramics diploma from Northern Beaches TAFE.

 

Her art practice is based at her Coogee studio. She teaches ceramics at Coogee and at Waverley Woollahara Art School in Bondi.

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Gillian’s work is available at the following galleries, or contact her directly via the contact page or Instagram:

  • Sturt Gallery, Mittagong, NSW

  • Australian Design Centre, Sydney

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Awards and Achievements

  • 2023   Finalist in the Clay Sydney Art Prize, Marrickville, Sydney

  • 2023   Finalist in the Remagine Art Prize, Wollarobba Centre, Hornsby NSW.

  • 2022   Finalist in the Lakes Art Prize, Museum of Art and Culture, Lake Macquarie

  • 2022   Finalist in Little Things Art Prize, St Cloche, Paddington, Sydney   

  • 2022   Finalist in the Gosford Ceramic Prize​

  • 2020   Second Prize in Wallenberg Portrait Competition (for a portrait bust of Ernie Friedlander, Holocaust survivor.)

  • 2018   Studio Artist at Australian Design Centre, for the Australian Ceramics Open Studios (ACOS) 2018

  • 2017   Winner – First prize in the Craft NSW Emerging Artist Award 

  • 2017   Awarded the Graduating Student Award, Northern Beaches TAFE Ceramics

  • 2017   Finalist in the Blacktown City Art Prize

  • 2017   Finalist in the Gosford Ceramic Prize

  • 2016   Finalist in the Tom Bass Sculpture Prize

  • 2016   Finalist in the Gosford Ceramic Prize

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Exhibitions

  • 2022   ACOS Open Studios, Sydney, NSW

  • 2022   Lakes Art Prize Finalist Exhibition, Museum of Art and Culture, Lake Macquarie

  • 2022   Little Things Art Prize Finalist Exhibition, St Cloche, Paddington, Sydney   

  • 2022   Gosford Ceramic Prize Finalist Exhibition, Gosford, NSW

  • 2020   The Maker’s Collective, Newtown, NSW

  • 2020   Australian Ceramics Open Studios, Sydney, NSW

  • 2019   ArtHop, Sydney, Australia

  • 2019   It Takes Two to Tango, Craft NSW, Sydney, Australia

  • 2019   Collection 10, Rochfort Fine Art, Sydney, Australia

  • 2019   Pigs in Mud, CraftNSW, Sydney, Australia

  • 2018   Object Shop, Australian Design Centre, Sydney, Australia

  • 2018   Christmas Exhibition, Kerrie Lowe Gallery, Sydney, Australia

  • 2018   Table Talk, Kerrie Lowe Gallery, Sydney NSW

  • 2018   ACOS Open Studios, Sydney, NSW

  • 2018   Four Elements: Fire, Creative Space, North Curl Curl NSW

  • 2018   Moving On, Craft NSW

  • 2017   Blacktown City Art Prize (finalist), Blacktown Arts Centre, Blacktown, NSW

  • 2017   Northern Beaches TAFE Annual Exhibition, Brookvale, NSW

  • 2017   Art Hop, Dover Heights, NSW

  • 2017   Four Elements: Air, Creative Space, North Curl Curl NSW

  • 2017   Gosford Ceramic Prize (finalist), Gosford Regional Gallery, Gosford, NSW

  • 2017   St Cloche Little Things (finalist), Paddington, NSW

  • 2017   ABC Exhibition, Bnei Brith, UNSW Campus Barker St, NSW

  • 2017   Craft NSW Emerging Artist Award (Major prize winner), The Rocks, NSW

  • 2017   Clay: Where We Come From, Bondi Pavilion, Bondi, NSW

  • 2016    Port Hacking National Pottery Competition, Hazelhurst Regional Gallery, Gymea, NSW

  • 2016    Gosford Ceramic Prize (finalist), Gosford Regional Gallery, Gosford, NSW

  • 2016    Tikkun Olam: My Place + Your Place =  A Better Place; Waverley Library Galleries, Sydney, NSW

  • 2016   Tom Bass Sculpture Prize (Finalist); Juniper Hall, Paddington

  • 2015    National Art School Graduate Exhibition 2015. Works in both sculpture and drawing exhibitions.

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