Brett Smout -

I make ceramics in a range of different ways – slip-cast, wheel-thrown and hand-built, fired at different temperatures in both oxidizing and reducing atmospheres.

After completing my PhD in Ceramics from Sydney University, one recent direction has been to spend much more time on design and decoration, and to see how a single form can be transformed by different decorating choices. In artistic terms this is possibly best described as an interest in formalism. There is pattern and symbol rather than narrative, with the pieces having geometrically defined curves, and layered surface effects that benefit from controlled preparation combined with the gifts of the fire.