Cath Macauley is a local Craft Artist who specialises in sculpture and making pieces of Ceramic Wearable Art. Ceramic Art is the technical term for clay sculpture and pottery. It is a term predominantly used overseas. In Australia we seem to seem to confuse ceramic art with hobby ceramics and paint a plate. Cath studied Ceramics at Seven Hills College of Art, South Brisbane TAFE and the QUT at Kelvin Grove and concluded with a Bachelor of Visual Arts majoring in ceramics.
Like most Craft Artists Cath dabbled in many craft mediums such as spinning, weaving, sewing, knitting, crochet and even some macramé before settling on ceramic art. “During high school I was invited to be a part of the Young Artist of the Commonwealth Exhibition that toured London, Edinburgh and Zimbabwe. And later went on to study art and predominantly ceramics. Having two young children made it difficult to do large sculptures and so in time I started to do smaller sculptures that were easier to manage,” recalls Cath.
While Cath loves creating large ceramic sculptures the associated cost in both time and money was prohibitive with a young family. To keep working with materials she loves Cath chose to work around the kitchen table and to work on smaller pieces. With Australians being high level consumers in wearable art pieces Cath developed a range of ceramic statement jewellery. A family tragedy led Cath to question the symbol of love. Having an interest in figurative sculpture she started forming heart shapes. Cath believes her ceramic hearts are popular because, “A lot of women, particularly mothers, tune in with the hearts; that feeling of antiquity and crafting.”
Each of Cath’s ceramic hearts is handcrafted on her back deck surrounded by two resident ducks, a blue tongue lizard, a large green tree frog and a sleepy possum. The resultant hearts are individual with no two pieces alike. Over the past four years the Ceramic Heart Necklaces have essentially stayed the same shape however the decoration has become more sophisticated and the colour range has expanded. Cath continues to research and use new enamels which has enabled her to keep the pieces fresh.
Cath does not sell at markets due to family commitments however her work is sought after by galleries locally, interstate and overseas. To see more of Cath Macauley’s ceramic hearts visit http://www.cathmacauley.com.au/
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