I discovered pottery by chance in 2016: I happened to walk past a studio on Nicholson St, shortly after moving to Melbourne from Queensland. My partner gifted me a term’s worth of pottery classes and I have been hooked ever since. After almost a decade in hairdressing I was drawn to the similarity between the two crafts: the hands-on creation at the wheel is analogous to the organic sculpture of cutting hair.
With this existing experience in the three-dimensional, pottery gives me the opportunity to create without restriction or reservation, and to get really messy while doing it. I love that by using simply clay and water and heat (all things that come from the earth) I can make something that will outlast my own lifetime. Being guided by the clay and embracing my own creative impulses and instincts allows the work to be a meditative process. My pieces are an invitation - for both myself and the eventual recipient - to slow down.
Wangs Thangs in its current form was born in 2018. Prior to this I had worked mostly on commissions for friends and family, and I wanted to share what I’d been creating with more people. The work is constantly evolving as my own skills and interests develop. I am always pushing new boundaries. My most recent foray, not having access to a wheel during recent lockdowns, has been experimenting more with handbuilding. I am open to both commissions that gel with my own aesthetic and exhibition work that focuses on the sculptural aspect and art of pottery.
In my everyday practice I concentrate on simple, minimalist shapes, inspired by architecture and lead by form. My favourite part of my practice is bringing something both beautiful and functional into the home to be used lovingly in everyday life: a plate to eat a yummy breakfast off, a mug for sipping on the patio on a cool morning, a vase to fill with flowers from someone special. Every Wangs Thangs piece is sent off with a little bit of my own heart with my maker’s mark: a tiny depiction of my equally tiny, and much beloved, chihuahua Polo.