In 2003 I acquired the Embleton and Weir Cordial Factory at Hill End, with the intention of setting up a studio. In the last few years I have been designing studios and renovating the Cordial Factory. Hill End is a historic gold mining town, located in the central tablelands of New South Wales, near Bathurst. In the 1940’s, artists such as Russell Drysdale, Donald Friend, Jean Bellette, Paul Haefliger and Magaret Olley lived and worked there. The decades proceeding enticed other artists such as John Olsen, Brett Whiteley, John Firth-Smith and many more to spend time there working and this is the case to the present day.

‘Totems and Architecture’ is the first body of work that I have produced from Hill End. Abstract compositions in the materials of metal and wood, predominate my work. The sculptural compositions acknowledge an architectural quality, which stems from my interest in design, architecture and construction. These works continue to investigate architectural ideas and design with the emphasis on the vertical, referencing totems and figures. The totem is a subject, which has occupied me for years. Intrigued by the totems from various cultures and civilisations, such as Aboriginal, African, Central and South American and Oceanic tribes, Ancient European and Eastern civilisations. My interest in the totem extends to the totem pole, where not only a connection has been established with my interest in architectural references but also with the figure, the quasi-representation of our selves. Questioning the need for humans to erect tall vertical structures from the times of Stonehenge to the modern high rise. A curious parallel, the evolutionary steps of man from the horizontal to the vertical. These works are responses to totems of the past, to contemporary architecture and to the sculptures of Brancusi, Giacometti, Meadmore and David Smith’s Cubi series.

Living and working at Hill End presented the opportunity of working in another medium. Becoming acquainted with Lino Alvarez of La Paloma Pottery, who has worked with artists of the calibre of John Olsen, Garry Shead and Rodney Pople, allowed me to experiment with the medium of clay. His generosity of knowledge and vast experience in ceramics enabled me to realise my sculptural concepts. Whilst working in this medium the past and present has been put into context through the history of clay and the modernity of metal.

Artist Statement
February, 2007