Triple Cooked

To stay engaged with the climate emergency without getting stuck in despair or outrage I need to plan and make work about the most unbearable information. This work encompasses my material research and development addressing social and environmental challenges in the ceramic industry and climate politics. It’s now well documented that mitigating climate change requires political action, not individual behavior change. A tongue in cheek reference to Australian Slang, Triple Cooked features three coil-built vessels made of recycled clay, named after three recent climate headlines. They’re glazed using only reclaimed landscaping basalt. The same rock is broken into pieces, tumbled and molded into each vessel before a single firing. This work is inspired by the aesthetics of fossil fuels, in particular coal rocks and deformed landscapes. It aims to spread political awareness using the moments of pause and curiosity created by innovative craftsmanship.

Claire Ellis is a Canadian-born emerging ceramic artist and designer based in Naarm. Claire’s former career as a chef influences her work through a focus on raw materials and experimentation. Her research focuses on transforming local by-products in her work and her current art practice explores avenues for environmentalism, activism and catharsis in ceramics. Her work has been exhibited locally and internationally, it has been featured in magazines, journals, books and conferences. Claire won the innovation award at the Warrandyte Pottery Expo and was a finalist in the Little Things, Wyndham, Remagine and Northern Beaches Environmental Art and Design Prizes.