Angela Valamanesh is a leading Australian ceramist, born in Port Pirrie, South Austalia in 1953. A graduate of South Australian School of Art in 1977 her practice primarily involved ceramics. In 1993 she completed an MA in Visual Arts at University of South Australia and a PhD in 2011. She was awarded an Anne & Gordon Samstag International Visual Art Scholarship with a one year residency at Glasgow School of Art in 1996.
Her practice has broadened to include a wider range of media and a number of collaborative public works with Hossein Valamanesh such as An Gorta Mor 1999 (The Great Irish Famine Memorial) Hyde Park Barracks, Sydney and 14 pieces, 2005, North Terrace, Adelaide.
As an artist, Valamanesh is known for her intricate ceramic works but she also makes work on paper, board and mixed media. Recent works consist of simple forms that make links between plant, human and animal. For Valamanesh, inspiration comes from the diversity seen in nature. Simultaneously, her in-depth research of such forms reveal similarities in patterns that allow her to create work that offers insight into the natural world. The works that she creates are familiar, yet not completely recognisable.
“The practice of building groups or arrangements has existed in my work for a number of years now and their linear qualities still remind me of the way letters form words or sentences on a page. Also, in this more recent work, the reference to the way specimens in collections are often presented to us is perhaps relevant.” (excerpt from artist statement, 2007)
In 2008 she was the subject of a SALA (South Australian Living Artist) monograph and 2014 undertook a six week residency in the Smithsonian Institute Washington DC. A major survey held at Jam Factory in 2019 will tour regional Australian galleries over the next three years. Valamanesh has participated in many solo and group exhibitions including: Heartlands, Contemporary Art from South Australia, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide (2013); and the South Australian Living Artists Festival, Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia, Adelaide (2015).
