Gillian Hodes, ceramic artist

Artist Statement

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I am captivated by contrasts, and Porcelain provides the ideal medium through which to explore them. In its raw, wet state it is soft and yielding; firing transforms it into a surface that is rock hard yet inherently brittle. It can shift between translucency and opacity, and when lit from within it emanates an inner radiance.

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Living in coastal Sydney shapes both my palette and process, from the ochres and black of the eroded volcanic outcrops and weathered sandstone cliffs, to the gentle blues of ocean and sky:  traces of place embedded in clay.

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Working primarily through hand-building, I shape each piece slowly and intuitively, sculpting with light and shadow as much as with form. I am drawn to the way light permeates translucent porcelain, revealing depth and fragility. By integrating pigment directly into the clay body, colour moves through the walls rather than resting on the surface; I am drawing within rather than applying without. This process reflects an ongoing inquiry in my practice: a search to reveal what lies beneath appearances, and to give material presence to the unseen layers we carry within.