Delight in the combination of aesthetic innovation and balanced form in the new ceramics of RICHARD SPOEHR and PRUE VENABLES.

Working fine high-fired porcelain, RICHARD SPOEHR creates beautifully thrown bowls, vases, jugs and cups that almost float with the luminous and translucent light gradations that his glazes inspire. Carefully considered, there is a quiet stillness within the soft blue and yellow palette that shifts in tone with the changing natural light of the day. The classic, balanced silhouette of each bowl and cup in this series of work is intrinsic to his endeavour for beauty.

Exploring the potential of dark satin textures PRUE VENABLES’ process results in softened forms and edges defined by elegant, simple cuts. Refraining from decorative elements, the works are minimalist in temperament and form, aligning with modernist and industrial influences. With bisque and high temperature reduction firing the fragile designs are fortified into dense forms that maintain the delicacy of line and smooth texture.

VENABLES is currently the ninth artist in the Australian Design Centre's (ADC) series Living Treasures: Masters of Australian Craft. Open until 25 September at ADC, VENABLE’s work will then travel as a national touring exhibition opening at fourteen locations across Australia from 2019 to 2022. Accompanying the exhibition is a book that provides an in-depth insight into VENABLES’ life and work, and includes essays by UK-based potter and writer Alison Britton and Australian ceramicist Neville French.

Across the work of SPOEHR and VENABLES is a celebration of everyday objects. The artists successfully create works that appear deceptively simple, however these are mastered processes. With an eye for balance, the ceramics are distilled with a minimal palette, yet excitingly push and elevate the functional forms to another level of distinctive refinement and poise.

From the Ancient Egyptians to Yves Klein Blue, the colour blue has been a point of fascination and inspiration for art, culture, music and science. In her The Persistence of Blue LIZ SHREEVE looks to the everyday occurrence of blue, inspired by her observations of the colours of posters in shop windows. Unlike pigments in artists’ watercolours and inks, printing inks fade in strong light turning something brash and gaudy into a thing of subtle beauty.

With attention to blue as a lasting colour, SHREEVE plays out its changing states through the shifting tones across paper patterns. In the delicate almost minute gradations of blue there is a observation of time and its passing, as SHREEVE marks out the process of blue fading from initial deep tones to almost white.

SHREEVE’s work delights in the myriad patterns of light and shade that the grid can inspire. She uses the strict geometry of the grid to create contemplative, harmonious shifts in depth and space. The grid is a point of control and inspiration.

Adding dynamism to the transition of blue, SHREEVE engages with the grid to create depth and space in her paper works that move between the two-dimensional and the three-dimensional. With mathematical principles as her starting point SHREEVE discovers new arrangements in the repeating of geometric elements. A sense of transition occurs as light moves across the patterns, enhancing the depth and colour of blue and its seemingly infinite tones.

LIZ SHREEVE has recently been selected as a finalist in the Hazlehurst Art on Paper Award 2019, which will be in exhibition concurrently with our show, from 21 September until 17 November.