Wagga's potters push themselves in new directions

The Wagga Wagga Potters Club has been shaping clay for more than half a century but has taken a new direction with this year’s winter exhibition at the Ambo Gallery.

Rather than presenting an eclectic showcase of recent works from talented local potters, the show is a diverse and considered response to the theme ‘Tall, Small, Wall’.

“I thought it was wonderful,” said lifelong member Dawn Smith.

“I don’t ever remember us having a straight-out theme to work towards, it’s always been, ‘We’re having an exhibition’ and you usually do the kind of work you’ve done before.

“I felt that this was something that took us outside our square to a degree, as it meant we had a deadline and we were challenged to do something different.”

The Tall, Small, Wall exhibition was the brainchild of member Angela Champ, who was approached by Eastern Riverina Arts to consider utilising the newly opened Ambo Gallery on Johnston Street.

“I was thinking about how wide the space was and thought about encouraging people to make work for a hanging space because we don’t usually think about work for the wall,” she said.

“Everything goes on a shelf or a table or a bench and often were in the kitchen, so it was about trying to challenge potters to make outside of their comfort zone.”

Angela said the tall and small elements also made for an interesting challenge as some potters worked in miniature or embraced mixed media to add height and breadth.

“The tall and the small were to look at the relationships between the heights and how you can do smaller, more intricate works and then also the big impact type pieces,” she explained.

“Not everyone has access to a large kiln, so it was about adding mixed media elements into your piece to try and get it right and thinking outside the box to get the height or width you need.”

Potters Club vice-president Rosemary Tucker said she was delighted with the way members had embraced something different and reflected on the unpredictability and “magic” of the artform.

“You can think all you like, and work it out all you like, but when you surrender it to the kiln, you don’t really know until you open that door,” she said with a laugh.

“You could be left thinking – ‘Bugga, what did I do wrong there?’ – but then some days you can open that door and there they are, and you just think – ‘Wow.'”

Angela prefers to describe the process as “chemistry” but agrees that trial and error with the temperamental medium is an important part of the process.

“This is what also happens in pottery,” said Angela, brandishing a large, detailed wall hanging that had split into two.

“The carving on this might have taken me two hours to plan and do and then the glazing, maybe four hours, drying, firing and then this is what you can get.

“But the failures are part of it.”

Most of the items in the exhibition are for sale and the club is also hosting workshops at the Ambo Gallery that are already fully booked.

After decades with the Potters Club, Dawn said she was encouraged by the growing membership.

“We’ve got so many new people and I think we are in a really good place at the moment,” she said.

“It’s not just a place where like-minded people get together to talk about their pots or to sell them, we come together to make things and to encourage new people to come and play and create.”

Tall, Small, Wall is showing until 28 July.