Image:
Juliet FERGUSON
Large Green Tortoise 2022
ceramic
1 – 30 November 2022
Gallery Shop
Local artist Juliet Ferguson presents a selection of charmingly naïve ceramic animals in the Gallery Shop throughout November, in the exhibition Art of the Earth. Each animal is incredibly expressive, and the selection of works evidences the diversity of Ferguson’s technical ability, including varied glazes, clays including some sourced from her Dookie property, and firing techniques.
Juliet Ferguson explained of her artistic journey, “I have been making pottery for years with long breaks between. I restarted again during the world gliding comps a few years ago when I inadvertently came across the Broken River Potters in one of the BARC huts at the aerodrome. I did belong to this group about 25 years ago when they worked in the Benalla Art Gallery.”
“I love working with clay and love its versatility and the infinite possibilities of form and texture as well as the infinite number of glazes and combinations of glaze. Some pottery is pit fired and some fired in the wood heater at home, and some made with clay from our dam which is the colour of the red earth of Dookie.”
“I have worked on the wheel in the past making functional ware but now prefer hand building rough representations of animals and birds. My main interest is in wildlife in all forms and I am very disturbed about our contribution to the destruction of the planet’s animals and ecosystems.”
All works in the Gallery Shop are available for purchase from Benalla Art Gallery,
or by contacting the Gallery on: T 03 5760 2619 or gallery@benalla.vic.gov.au