About the Artist

Swallwoing Clouds

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NEW WORKS BY SUE FRASER, LOUISE FULTON AND RUTH PARK

Artworks by Sue Fraser, Louise Fulton and Ruth Park will be on view in September at the Northern Rivers Community Gallery in Ballina. Their exhibition called ?Swallowing Clouds? will showcase new work featuring horses, wall sculptures and large vessels.

The trio have a common interest in oriental motifs and forms from time spent travelling in China, Turkey and Central Asia and researching the historic context of porcelain production and glazes. Sue and Louise both worked as artists-in-residence at Sanbao Ceramic Institute China in 2005 and Ruth presented at a ceramic conference in Fuping last year.

Sue Fraser uses ?auspicious? flowers as surface decoration using a tissue transfer technique on the hind quarters of her lively horses. She also embosses the saddles with time-worn woodcuts from the Jingdezhen second-hand market. Some of the horses are made with earthenware and traditional ?sancai? or three colour glazes which are typified by the funerary ornaments of previous Chinese generations.

Louise Fulton uses a cloud pattern and other traditional Chinese motifs on her large platters in this show using a slip filled intaglio technique. She also alludes to clouds in her wall sculptures by using a magnesium loaded crawl glaze. A number of techniques are used to pattern the surface of her sculptures including linocut embossing, stencils, decals and sprigs.

Ruth Park glazes her porcelain ginger jars and large bowls with a rich jade green celadon over calligraphic swirls. As a member of the Bahai faith, she has an on-going interest in Central Asian patterns and designs. The surfaces of her pieces are influenced by Ru imperial Northern Chinese ware, with its reddish brown crazing within a reduced atmosphere celadon glaze. Ruth also carves porcelain at leather hard stage for her curvaceous jewellery containers.

This is the first time that the three artists have shown work together despite being friends for many years and getting together regularly at one of their studios on the far north coast of NSW. The three women share recipes for both kiln and kitchen when they work together in the studio. The title of the show, Swallowing Clouds, is a Chinese metaphor for wonton soup. In this show, art as metaphorical food glides down the throat like those delicate floating noodle bundles. The work nourishes the spirit with its whimsy and finesse. Their exhibition together is an obvious expression of their commitment to ceramic art practice and friendship.

Ruth Park currently teaches sculpture and ceramics at TAFE. Last year, she spoke at the annual Australian Ceramic Conference in Sydney and was selected to exhibit at the International Gangjin Celadon Exhibition in South Korea. Sue Fraser has also been selected this year to present work at the Gangjin as an internationally juried exhibitor. Louise Fulton will be November?s artist-in-residence at Cudgegong Gallery in Gulgong and has also been selected for a Cataract Gorge residency in 2011.