
I am a creative soul living and working on Turrbal and Yuggera Country in Brisbane, Queensland.
I make sculptural ceramic artwork that makes my heart sing and other people happy.
MY PRACTICE
My work may appear to be about birds and flowers but it runs way deeper than that. It is about the layers of connection that make up our lives as individuals and those that link us all to a broader community.
For me, it is the connection between my internal and external worlds. I make to process and explore my environment, emotions and ideas. We are not designed to digest the vast amount of chaos and distress we are exposed to on a daily basis. Being in nature restores my inner balance and I find working with clay transformative, grounding and restorative.
As someone who came from somewhere else, native flora and fauna offer the South African in me, a uniquely Australian, powerful and universal way to connect with my adopted home. I explore design, colour and pattern through flowers and foliage and use native birds to bring implied movement, song and sometimes a human narrative if there is one to be told.
For the ceramic sculptures I make, it is the connection of my graphic design background, love of painting, deep appreciation for nature and the ceramic process.
It is about the connection between like-minded, kind, gentle people who love birds, gardens and ceramics. My intention for all my work is to always offer anyone a happy, safe, uncomplicated opportunity to engage and really enjoy what they are looking at.
And underlining it all is the connection between the human community and the fragility of our natural environment. Despite its masterful design and unbelievable adaptability, we will lose it if we don’t appreciate it and look after it properly.
MY WORK
My totem sculptures are bold and graphic and designed to make an expressive statement. The conical shape with a single totem on top was designed to move away from the traditional multi-totem pole shape and give a quiet, strong sentinel presence as they sit amongst foliage in protected courtyards and balcony gardens. I enjoy the simplicity of working on the base form and the freedom to design, carve and paint unique patterns to visually support the top totem.
My sculptural vessels are altogether different.I use them as a free space where I can playfully explore the relationship between form and surface decoration. I love including other mediums like leather cord, thread, grasses, and in particular, mosaics.
UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS
23-31 AUGUST 2025
BUSHLAND IMPRESSIONS III
MAROOCHY BOTANIC GARDENS, SUNSHINE COAST
Group exhibition organised by the Makers Perspective
23 OCT - 2 NOV 2025
ARTISANS IN THE GARDENS
LIONSGATE COTTAGE, SYDNEY BOTANIC GARDENS
Group exhibition organised by the Foundation & Friends of the Botanic Gardens