Stephanie Hart is a ceramicist based in Sydney.

Achievements and History:

Winner of the Ewart Art Prize for Ceramics 2023
National Arboretum Canberra collection
Works sold through Planet Furniture, Sydney

Artist’s Statement:

My father was, amongst other things, an eccentric Hungarian potter - and years after his passing, I felt drawn to the clay. I love the clay. I feel a total creative immersion when I work with clay – it’s something kind of cellular.

I instinctively build big and fast – then shape and fashion slowly. I feel a slightly embarrassing primal connection with the clay, and find my works often seem to retain a feeling of nature about them.

I prefer to hand build and rarely begin a piece with a firm vision. I am led by the pot as it forms and often take a different tangent depending on the texture or dryness of the clay and the way it sits or fits with what was formed just before. I like to blend clays and experiment with oxides and glazes – sometimes pouring and tipping quickly, following a line or a curve. Sometimes the result is quickly satisfying, sometimes I will take to the brush or scraper to add some line-work or etch away a section, or fossick for some foliage to imprint in the clay.

I feel particularly satisfied when something emerges from the kiln having been further battered by the elements and gives a feeling of burnt wood, or is reminiscent of a large birds egg, or the glaze looks like reeds or tentacles.

I hope this current collection evokes a feeling of nature while being functional and satisfying to hold or own.

I hope you enjoy it.

Steph

HART TO ART