WINNER 2025 MORNINGTON PENINSULA CONTEMPORARY ART PRIZE (MornPen Artist)

‘littoral drift’

littoral drift

Yet again a huge thank you to my friend Jack Latti for the privilege of putting this work into his fabulous anagama. Jack’s kiln is located on Wurundjeri Country.

I am a contemporary ceramic artist working on Boon Wurrung Country. My process driven practice is full of conversations and collaborations with materials, constantly being attentive to their capacities and tendencies. This work highlights the preciousness of the earth and the care we should be taking of it and explores the vibrancy of material interactions through wood firing.

‘littoral drift’ emerges through process as much as material. This diptych of closed ceramic forms carries a coastal imprint of the Mornington Peninsula. Wood firing over a period of four days transforms surfaces with natural ash deposits, while seaweed and shells placed between the pieces during firing leave subtle traces—gestures of the ocean, held in fire. The closed forms suggest containment and quietness, yet their surfaces hold layered histories of transformation: sediment to clay, seaweed to ash, shells to glaze. In this way the work becomes a reflection of time and memory, evoking the reflective shimmer of the sea as well as the deeper temporal reflections of geology and ecology. These forms invite stillness and contemplation, carrying the elemental forces of earth, ocean, and fire—reflections not just of light, but of time, place, and matter in continual change.

At its core, my practice asks viewers to pause and consider transformation. Littoral Drift, for me, is not only about light on water, but also about deep time, memory, and the agency of matter. Through ceramic forms that embody traces of fire, ocean, and geology, I invite contemplation of the shifting relations between land, sea, and human presence—reminders that all materials are in motion, always on their way to becoming something else.

My studio is located on the unceded lands of the Boon Wurrung People of the Kulin Nation. I pay my deep respect to their Spirits, Ancestors and Elders, past, present and emerging and extend this respect to all First Nations Peoples across the lands and waters on which I visit, live, work and make.