8 – 24 February 2024
about the exhibition
Inspired by a trip to an ancient Tasmanian rock shelf of tessellated pavement, ceramic artist Shannon Garson captures the constant rhythmic push and pull of the wrack zone – the boundary space between land and sea. Here, waves unfurl the secrets of the ocean onto the shore, washing up seaweed, stones and treasures held by the sympathetic coastline. The perpetual activity of these zones cultivate striking patterns that emerge in natural formations. Shannon’s hand thrown and exquisitely painted vessels quietly reveal these flows whilst also mirroring the ancient geological scars and crevices that criss-cross the rocks. Through her works, Shannon asks us to consider how these liminal zones reflect our own continual shifting experiences and reality. Shannon says, “…I want this work to encompass more than the details of the subject matter, I want it to connect with the feeling of being in a landscape, from the lens of a human being surrounded and engulfed by a place.”
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.
