Creative clay project helps community stick together

Two Charles Darwin University art lecturers are combining their creative talents to curate a unique ceramics exhibition that will open in Alice Springs next month.

Visual arts lecturer Suzi Lyon and ceramics lecturer Mel Robson are busily working towards a spectacular floor installation that will comprise about 10,000 clay pinch pots, some of which are as small as a finger nail.

Ms Lyon said more than 50 people had helped make the pots in an exercise that allowed for an exploration of the link between artist and audience, and maker and viewer.

“Artists often work in isolation, but in this case we chose a medium to connect with other people,” Ms Lyon said.

“Students, staff and others at the campus made some of the pots in the garden during their lunch breaks.

“We were delighted to see them connect, converse, contribute and create all at the same time.”

Ms Lyon said the “community engagement” aspect of the project would continue during the exhibition’s season at the Watch This Space Gallery, from October 10.

“The gallery will be set up so people can keep adding to the collection,” she said.

“The tactile nature of clay and its ability to be easily manipulated makes it a democratic material to shift the focus on to the process of making as a means of discovery, expression and interactive engagement.”

The exhibition TOUCH at Watch This Space will run from 10 October to 1 November.