2 – 19 November 2017
about the exhibition
The Australian landscape, from the local Brindabella Ranges to the Central Desert and the Kimberley, has inspired Anita McIntyre’s ceramics practice for over forty years. In her paper clay forms and vessels, Anita depicts her connection to the landscape through a visual language of text, distinctive cultural symbols and patterns as well as impressions of objects found on her many journeys. Boats have become a distinctive form in Anita’s practice with their ability to express her own journeys as an individual and that of others across history. In this new series she has expanded her narrative to includeher travels overseas to Cambodia and Vietnam. Anita identified strong connections between symbolic elements used in Australia and those overseas; imagery of fish, birds, crocodiles and boats have allowed her to draw connections between different cultures and their shared experiences. As she comments, “the overwhelming presence of Angkor Wat was so similar to the overwhelming presence of the Kimberley…I discovered so many connections between the imagery of the temples.” Symbols and marks recur across the ceramic surface, weaving complex stories that traverse space and time. Indeed, the tactility of the porcelain itself with its fractured surface, uneven edges and web of imprints makes the objects feel to be relics of the past that have been brought out of the earth.
Anita McIntyre studied ceramics at the Canberra School of Art, graduating in 1976. She has travelled extensively across outback Australia and overseas, continually finding inspiration for her work. She has been a long and active member of various arts boards and committees, including the Craft Council of the ACT, National Ceramic Award Committee, Strathnairn Arts Association, and most recently the board of the Belconnen Arts Centre. Anita McIntyre’s work is represented in collections throughout Australia, including the Canberra Museum and Art Gallery and the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory. Anita is currently a visiting fellow and lecturer in Ceramics at the Australian National University.
