vivonne thwaites
curator
gus clutterbuck
Broken Constellation, 2010
slip cast and monoprinted porcelain, ceramic inks, sprigged decorations, glaze
crushed tin plates found in the APY Lands, South Australia
Dog in a Story Wire Landscape 6 (set of three small camp dog works), 2010
monoprinted porcelain, ceramic inks, sprigged decoration
Untitled Teacups (Amata series), 2010
slip cast and monoprinted porcelain;
Dimensions each cup: 180 x 120mm (wall mounted)
Camels
Digital Photo
(Camel herds waiting in the stockyards outside Amata, 2009)
snapshots such as these are studies for new ceramic designs
Road to Amata
Digital Photo
(Amata - Umuwa road, APY Lands in winter 2009)
found objects from the middle of nowhere are the basis of many of my ceramic forms
The inspiration for this work still comes from my fascination with the surface veneer of the remote town. The bent and broken forms are directly sampled(found) from its dusty roads, and have their own stories to tell about the harshness of the environment. The picture plane is inhabited by the ever present dogs, in various shapes forms and sizes, just as the townscape is in real life. I see the surface as a metaphor in many ways for the continuing cultural collision between Indigenous and European ways.
gus clutterbuck
Gus Clutterbuck is an arts worker with a background in ceramics, arts administration and community arts. He is currently working part time as an art instructor at Amata Anangu School, while also caring for his two young children, while his partner works full time as a nurse in the Amata Clinic. He has a small studio setup at home to make his own exhibition work, and is also working with the community to develop interest in ceramics.
He is working with the young men, (wati's) many of whom are initiated, on a project to design and create their own outdoor space within the school grounds. The project will involve landscaping and gardens integrated with outdoor artworks using ceramic tiles and mosaic as features.
A main challenge in arts education in Amata is providing learning activities that will encourage and motivate the young men to create and make. Ceramics has proved to be a highly successful medium in this regard in other communities such as Fregon, and Ernabella. Ernabella in particular has an internationally recognised Ceramic studio within it's arts centre, and a ceramic program at the Ernabella School.
Gus lives in Amata Community with his partner Kris, she is one of only 4 midwives currently working in the APY Lands. Part of this role involves their house becoming the after hours clinic, officially for emergencies only, but in reality for many minor complaints. Their backyard also often becomes an after school gathering place for the local kids. A new trampoline in the backyard was a great attraction for the local kids until it was damaged by a "kupi kupi" (desert whirlwind) which came along and blew it away. Part of the unique experience of living within this community is "how" and "where" the line is drawn between personal and public space. This can be vital in the ability of workers to sustain themselves in a remote community.
To be a part of the community often involves some civic duties, such as driving people around or helping fix something. Gus was often asked to be the goal umpire at the football which he accepted with some nervousness. Football is a serious business, and you don't want to make a mistake with the scores. On his second ever match everyone on the ground froze as a rather fanatical supporter decide to invade the pitch brandishing a 10 foot spear, threatening damage and tearing off pieces of clothing until talked down by a number of police and friends.
All these experiences and reflections form a context for Gus's recent studio work.
The "Broken Plate" series utilizes rubbish commonly found on the street outside his house. Using crushed cans and enamel camping plates to make moulds, he remakes and reassembles these found objects in porcelain and bone china using a variety of techniques from slipcasting to inlay, and they tell their own stories about the "surface" veneer of the community.
He says of this work;
I feel the surface veneer of the remote community is a metaphor in itself for cultural collision, the endless value judgements that are made, and the seemingly intractable problems of indigenous Australia. As such it is incredibly interesting subject matter to explore the discarded.
This work was recently purchased from an exhibition at Helen Stephens Gallery, Sydney, by Keith Johnson, the Global buyer for New York store Anthropologie whose trademark is built upon its selection of unique items from around the world. An article on this body of work will also appear in the March issue of Artist Profile Magazine.
This notion of a “broken aesthetic” will inform the making of new work for the exhibition at Artroom 5. In material terms the idea of a “broken aesthetic” within the work also reflects the spectacular rocky landscapes which surround him aswell as the character of the bent and broken things he collects, which have been exposed to the rigours of this harsh environment.
gus clutterbuck - cv
| TERTIARY EDUCATION | |
| 2004 | Bachelor of Visual Art Adelaide Centre for the Arts TAFE |
| 2000-01 | Graduate Diploma Community Cultural Development Community Arts Network of SA |
| 1996-00 | Advanced Diploma of Visual Art North Adelaide School of Art |
| 1982-85 | Bachelor of Arts Flinders University of SA |
| INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE | |
| 2008 | Arts and Bioethics exhibition, 9th World Congress of Bioethics, |
| Salon Mali, Museum of Contemporary Art, Rijeka, Croatia | |
| 2007 | International Elephant exhibition, Sanskriti Kendra, New Delhi, India |
| Helpmann Academy Residency 6 weeks, Sanskriti Kendra, New Delhi, India | |
| SELECTED SOLO & COLLABORATIVE EXHIBITIONS | |
| 2009 | Gus Clutterbuck – New Work, (sculpture and works on paper), Art Images Gallery, Norwood SA |
| 2008 | Confluence, Gus Clutterbuck and Pramod Kumar, (G.C. prints and drawings), OzAsia Festival 08, Adelaide Festival Theatre Foyer, SA |
| Gus Clutterbuck – New Ceramics; Pramod Kumar – Rajasthani Painting | |
| Helen Stephens Gallery, Waverley, Sydney NSW | |
| 2007 | Stayin Alive (Arts in Health), Promenade Gallery, Flinders Medical Centre, SA (solo) |
| 2006 | In Other Words, Gus Clutterbuck and Pramod Kumar, Artspace, Adelaide Festival Centre, SA |
| Stayin Alive JamFactory Contemporary Craft & Design, Adelaide SA (solo) | |
| SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS | |
| 2009 | Sculpture Near The Sea, Helen Stephens Gallery, Sydney, NSW |
| TAPAS, Art Images Gallery, Norwood, Adelaide, SA | |
| Clay without Convicts, Australian Ceramics Triennial 2009, National Art School, Sydney, NSW | |
| 2007-09 | Collectanea Regional Tour, SA regional centres with Country Arts SA |
| 2008 | Dogs and Cars Artroom5, Kent Street, Henley Beach SA |
| Under the Banyan Tree (drawings and ceramics), Light Square Gallery, Adelaide SA | |
| 2008 Sidney Myer Fund International Ceramics Award Shepparton Art Gallery, Victoria | |
| 2007 | South Australian Ceramics Award 2007 Adelaide Central Gallery, SA |
| 2006 | Hold Fast Vitamin Magazine Online Exhibition www.vitaminarchive.com.au |
| Carpe Argillum Light Square Gallery, Adelaide SA | |
| On the Verge – National Student Perspecta 2006 National Ceramics Conference, | |
| Brisbane Convention Centre, Qld | |
| Heartspace Artspace, Adelaide Festival Centre, SA | |
| Collectanea Adelaide Fringe 2006, South Australian Museum | |
| 2005-06 | Mura Clay Gallery Christmas Exhibition Mura Clay Gallery, Newtown, NSW |
| 2005 | Dame Nancy Buttfield Award for Decorative Arts 2005 Ayer’s House, Adelaide SA |
| Melting Pots 2005 Cairns Regional Gallery, Qld | |
| Wishlist Craftsouth members, SALA Festival 2005, Leigh Street Gallery, Adelaide SA | |
| South Australian Ceramics Award 2005 Adelaide Central Gallery, SA | |
| JamFactory Ceramics Workshop JamFactory Atrium Gallery, Adelaide SA | |
| 2004 | Exotic/Erotic Greenhill Galleries, Adelaide SA |
| Q-Up JamFactory/Jamboree studio, Adelaide Fringe 2004, SA | |
| Warm and Salty Bay Discovery Centre, Glenelg SA | |
| COMMISSIONS & ARTIST-IN-SCHOOLS PROJECTS | |
| 2009 | Artsworker – Amata Anangu School, community, environment art and design project with secondary |
| students | |
| 2009 | Water is Precious – Parafield Gardens R-7 School, workshops to produce large scale tile mural for school assembly Yard |
| Trinity Gardens Primary – Finders Keepers workshops using site specific art, photography, and ceramics | |
| 2008 | OzAsia Festival commissioned official gifts produced for Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, |
| and chefs Cheong Lieuw and Simon Bryant | |
| Emma Hack porcelain figures commission, produced life moulds and five porcelain figures for artist | |
| Emma Hack, shown at Art Images Gallery, Adelaide SA | |
| The Hungry Caterpiller Mural Modbury Special School, Carclew Artist-in-Schools project, SA | |
| Artist in Residence Ernabella Anangu School (May & November), | |
| Public Art Project for the new Child Parent Centre | |
| 2007 | CARGO Carclew Artist-in-Schools tour of regional SA: |
| Finders/Keepers workshops for Schools presented in Port Pirie and Whyalla | |
| 2005 | St. Morris Community Childcare Centre Ceramics workshops for signage & entranceway commissions |
| Magill Primary and Junior Primary Ceramics & Mosaic workshops for tiled seating & murals | |
| 2003 | Talking Walls – Schools workshops at East Adelaide, Norwood and Trinity Gardens Primary Schools as part of a public art project at Payneham Library, SA |
| RECENT PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE | |
| 2009 | Ceramics Manager, Ernabella Arts Inc. Clay workshop, APY Lands South Australia |
| 2005–09 | Board Member Craftsouth: Centre for Contemporary Craft & Design, SA (Vice President 08-09) |
| 2004–09 | Access Tenant, Jam Factory Contemporary Craft and Design: |
| Ceramics workshop (2004); Independent Studio 8 (2005–09) | |
| 2003–07 | Project Manager Craftsouth Inside SAM’s place, |
| coordinated program of contemporary craft & design in the SA Museum | |
| 2008 | OzAsia Festival 08 Symposium panel speaker: Stories from the Festival, Adelaide Festival Centre, SA |
| Curator, DFEEST Office for Youth / Adelaide Thinkers in Residence Scheme: | |
| A-Team exhibition, Kerry Packer Civic Gallery, SA | |
| Curator Department of Premier and Cabinet: curated emerging artists exhibition, CEO offices SA Govt. | |
| 2005-07 | Member of Peer Assessment Panel Arts SA, Health Promotions Through The Arts |
| 2004, 07 | Arts Adviser Environment Youth Art Prize, Youth Art Competition, |
| joint initiative of Carclew and Department of Environment & Heritage, SA | |
| 2004-06 | Project Manager – Projection Art programs Australian Network for Art & Technology, |
| temporary public art projects using site-specific projections, Adelaide SA | |
| 2003-04 | Visual Arts Coordinator Adelaide Fringe 2004, coordinated all aspects of the Visual Arts Program, SA |
| 2003 | Artist/Project Manager Talking Walls public art commission for the new Payneham Library, SA |
| 2002-03 | ArtEast Coordinator Helpmann Academy exhibition programs in Adelaide’s |
| East End for emerging artists, SA | |
| 2002 | Workshop artist River Festival, Berri SA, series of mosaic workshops |
| 2001-02 | Walking Art Coordinator SALA (SA Living Artists) Festival 2002 |
| AWARDS | |
| 2007 | South Australian Ceramics Award Judges Commendation |
| 2005 | Helpmann Academy Mentorship with VivonneThwaites, contemporary craft curator |
| South Australian Ceramics Award Judges Commendation | |
| 2004 | The Pugmill Ceramics Award Adelaide Centre for the Arts |
| 1997 | Emerging Visual Art Award Commendation (Ceramics) |
| 1996 | Emerging Visual Art Award Commendation (Works on Paper) |
| RECENT GRANTS | |
| 2008 | Arts SA Last minute presentation |
| 2006 | Arts SA Project assistance |
| 2005 | Helpmann Academy Project assistance |
| Craftsouth Craft-in-Site grant | |
| SELECTED PUBLICATIONS | |
| 2008 | Adelaide Review September Reinvigorating tradition review including Confluence, John Neylon |
| 2008 Sidney Myer Fund International Ceramics Award Catalogue: Presence and expression: the 2008 Award Tony Conway, Shepparton Art Gallery & La Trobe University, Vic | |
| Journal of Australian Ceramics Vol 47 #1, April, Helen Stephens Gallery Helen Stephens | |
| Ceramics Art and Perception Issue 71, 2007 South Australian Ceramics Award Stephen Bowers | |
| ArtsHub on-line review Under the Banyan Tree Zoe Freeney | |
| 2007 | DB Magazine 30 May 2007 Stayin Alive review, Nerina Dunt, |
| Independent Weekly April 28 - May 4 Matters of Survival Vincent Ciccarello, | |
| Helpmann Academy Update Vol 14 #1, Issue 55, March-May, Mentorship Develops Practice in Trust Lynda Allen | |
| Asian Art News May/June, The Generosity of Community Dr. Christine Nicholls, pp 72-77 | |
| 2006 | Object Magazine Issue 51, Bricolage Dr. Pamela Zeplin |
| Craft Culture Bricolage review, Roy Ananda, http//:www.craftculture.org.au | |
| Adelaide Review Aug 25-Sept 7 Disturbingly off the dial John Neylon | |
| Helpmann Academy Update Vol 13, No. 3, Issue 52, Stayin Alive at the JamFactory Lynda Allen | |
| Journal Of Australian Ceramics Vol 45 # 1, Bricolage Debbie Pryor | |
| 2005 | Ceramics Art and Perception Issue 61 Enduring Spirit – SA Ceramics Award 2005 Stephen Bowers |
| COLLECTIONS | |
| Flinders Medical Centre, SA | |
| Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, ACT | |
| Private Collections, nationally | |