Shannon Garson’s hand thrown porcelain vessels are beautifully hand painted with drawings exploring the strange beauty and wonder of the natural world. Her background as a painter also informs her works, as she explains; “When using the vessel as a canvas for a drawing, I consider the whole of the pots – this includes three surfaces, the inside, the outside and the bottom… I want the surface of the pot to be part of the drawing, not just a surface for the drawing to sit on. I want the whole pot to be experienced, from the weight of it as you pick it up, the texture, the drawing, colour, smoothness of the glaze, all the elements draw the viewer into experiencing the vessel.” Birds, symbols and delicate foliage are all intricately drawn and embellished with abstract markings and glazes built up over numerous layers and firings. Beyond the imagery another important element for Shannon is her use of domestic and traditional forms – teacups, bowls and vases take her work beyond the conceptual and into our everyday lives and shared cultural history. The beauty of Shannon’s work lies in her ability to create a tactile and visceral experience where colour, imagery, texture and form are harmoniously intertwined.
Shannon Garson completed her Bachelor of Visual Arts, Queensland University of Technology in 1993 majoring as a painter. Shortly after, she began decorating after a stint at the Brisbane Gallery Amfora which then led her to throwing and decorating her own vessels. In 2005 Shannon was awarded the Churchill Fellowship which allowed her to travel to France and Italy to study various important ceramics collections before undertaking a four week residency at Dartington Pottery in Devon, UK. Shannon gained her Master of Visual Arts at the School of Art and Design, Australian National University in Canberra in 2015 and was the Director of the Australian Ceramics Association from 2013-2017. Shannon has received numerous awards and grants including most recently the best three dimensional art work at the 2020 Sunshine Coast Art Prize and the Judges Commendation for her piece in the 2018 Queensland Regional Art Awards.
