In Any Way Shape or Form

In Any Way Shape or Form is an exhibition of a hundred plates exploring form, food waste and creative practice by Melbourne-based ceramic artist and former Attica chef, Claire Ellis

The title of the exhibition is a playful reference to the freedom of using a wide variety of hand-building and wheel-throwing techniques to create the work. In contrast with process, Ellis chose to work within material and size constraints to keep form in focus.

A key material and symbol in the work is the egg. Each plate is glazed with a recipe developed by Ellis during her recent twelve-week artist residency at Northcote Pottery Supplies where she began using eggshells as a raw material in place of the mined material called whiting. A healthy hen lays on average one egg a day, the same making schedule was adopted for the plates.

The project is an exercise in productive creativity - the egg representing new life and creation. Eggshells are also food waste, a concern in Ellis’ work and issue intertwined with the use of plates.

Twenty-five dollars from the sale of each plate will be donated to Ozharvest, Australia’s leading food rescue organization fighting food waste and working towards food security and sustainability. The donation from each plate will allow Ozharvest to deliver fifty meals.

Claire Ellis is an emerging ceramic artist based in Melbourne. While working as a chef at the award-winning Attica restaurant in Melbourne in 2019, Ellis began making tableware for the tasting menu as part of the creative development team. During lock-down, in 2020, she established Attica Studio Ceramics within the restaurant, cementing Attica as Australia’s first restaurant with an in-house ceramic program. Ellis’ chef experience influences her work through a focus on raw materials and experimentation. Her research focuses on incorporating transformed waste materials into her work, including glass, plastic and organic materials.