Australian ceramicist David Ray’s exhibition Liminality explores the drastic impressions that environmental issues on a global scale are having on our society, from both a social and economic standpoint. Taking inspiration from the ideologies around consumerism and the juxtaposition between form and function when it comes to the use of ceramics in our society and how it can often symbolise opulence, aesthetics, and social status. Read more below.

We're celebrating 30 years of Fresh! To mark this important milestone, we invited three former finalists to talk about their journey since being part of the career-launching exhibition. They share some insights on their experience of being a finalist, and what they're noticing in the world of contemporary craft practice today. We also asked each artist to bring with them their exhibition work or a memento from the time.

SIXTY is an Australian Design Centre ADC On Tour exhibition project that is presented in partnership with The Australian Ceramics Association. The exhibition brings together works by twenty-two Australian ceramic artists to celebrate the significant anniversary in the history of the Journal of Australian Ceramics. Touring nationally 2022-2026. Read David Ray’s Artist Statement below.

In this masterclass David Ray demonstrates how he conceptualises his hand building from cut up forms which are derived from architecture, 18th Century European ceramics, and every day musing. Australian Ceramics Online Masterclasses are available as Open Access; you can sign up any time and access course materials at your own pace.

The Archway is a live-in Art Space curated by David Ray, a Melbourne artist who was commissioned to create an immersive experience which celebrates textures, materials and the handmade. His iconic neo-baroque designs and quirky humour are evident throughout the space, and he has created the perfect quiet space to sit, calibrate, imagine, and restore.

The style is often denigrated for representing courtly excess and unnecessary frivolity, yet it remains a significant epoch to these four contemporary Australian artists: Ebony Russell (NSW), Michael Carney (SA), David Ray (VIC) and Leah Emery (QLD). Collectively they highlight how the legacy of Rococo is relevant today.

The set of three ceramics are described by Ray as a ‘triptych’ that holds a narrative about our manufactured worlds versus the natural environment. Produced after his proximity to the 2019 Black Saturday fires and the 2018 Eungella fires, the set includes two vases (subtitled Evaseif) feature images of a koala wearing face mask surrounded by black smoke, and a motorbike rider in flames. Read David Ray’s Artist Statement below.

Chosen from 62 finalists, Ray’s award-winning piece uses humour and satire to engage his viewers and examine our perceptions of the beautiful and the ugly. Ray intends to critically comment on the ways in which consumerism and human activity are destroying the environment – posing the question, “what are we prepared to lose?”