 | | With an aesthetic sensibility deeply attuned toward the East Asian,
Kevin White's ceramic vessels present an elegant physicality of form characteristic
of oriental porcelain traditions. His respect for his materials, combined with
expertise acquired through countless hours of making are integral to White's creative
language, allowing for a certain restraint and emphasis of formal sculptural qualities.
White's sheared cone vessels echo a simplicity of line akin to Japanese ceremonial
dotaku bells. Adorned with imagery drawn freehand or loosely imprinted in undulating
grids White's fluent integration of surface with object creates a sense of 'wholeness'
or 'purity' that remains dynamic. The blue and white underglaze and onglaze enamel
decoration break up the continuity of surface to shift the strong symmetry of
the thrown vessel and lead the eye around the form. The vessel appears as a conversation
between the painted mark and three dimensional form in a kind of alchemy that
does not eschew its reading as functional artifact.
Kevin
White is an internationally renowned ceramic artist educated in England and Japan.
He completed his BA(Honours) in Fine Art at Leeds Polytechnic in 1977 and in 1978
was awarded a prestigious Japanese Ministry of Education (Monbusho) scholarship
for post-graduate research in Ceramics, in Japan. He studied under the late Professor
Yutaka Kondo at Kyoto City University of Fine Art and then worked for three years
in the Kyoto studio of Satoshi Sato, a member of the 'Sodeisha' group of contemporary
ceramic artists. In 1983 he returned to London where he completed his Master of
Arts at the Royal College of Art. His
work can be found in the collections of the National Gallery of Australia,
the National Gallery of Victoria, Powerhouse Museum, Sydney; Gifu Prefectural
Ceramic Museum, Gifu, Japan; Art Gallery of Western Australia; Museum and Art
Gallery of the Northern Territories; Museum and Art Gallery of Tasmania and Parliament
House, Canberra. | |
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Vessels,
2010 | |
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