Prue Venables is one of Australia’s leading ceramicists, renowned for her fine porcelain work with compelling conceptual twists. After graduating with Honours in zoology from the University of Melbourne (1974), she moved to London to focus on classical flute. It was during this time, in 1977, that she first encountered clay and discovered her lifelong vocation. She undertook a Diploma of Studio Pottery at Harrow College of Art, London (1983) and, after returning to Australia, a Master of Fine Art, Ceramics from RMIT, Melbourne (1995).
From the beginning of her practice, Venables has been fascinated with functional objects that, as she says, are at the core of life: ‘There is something so energising and wonderful about a beautiful pot. The holding, turning, using and celebration of such objects brings such joy and warmth of human connection’. Her ceramics are imbued with this wonder at simple things. She takes inspiration from domestic vessels and familiar implements but transforms them through her processes, elegant aesthetics and ethical commitment to quietness and simplicity. As fellow ceramic artist Gwyn Hanssen Pigott has written, Venables’ work ‘artfully combines stillness and a sense of risk, of fragility. Sometimes it is a single object – a pierced ladle with a precariously long stem, perhaps, or a scoop with an elegant, daring, ribbon-like handle, that surprises and then calms.’ But Venables’ sculptural prowess lies not only in her beautifully crafted objects. It is also in the way she enhances those objects through placements that produce fresh rhythms and spatial interactions. As she explains, the details and spaces between objects may ‘reflect musical rhythm and even a quiet pause for breath’: ‘From the shadows that form between them to the implied movements across spaces, they dance’.
Venables describes her works as ‘deceptively simple’, for while they resemble familiar functional objects, they are creatively altered — at times with the addition of metal and wood to the original porcelain — to evoke a much broader range of associations. Take Betty’s Kitchen (2017), which comprises of a series of cast and thrown porcelain pieces threaded with silver, copper, thread, and bristles. What at first looks like an array of kitchen implements ready to be picked up for practical use, gradually transforms into a set of beguiling forms which in turn make us wonder at the beauty of those everyday tools we take for granted. Similarly, in Esme's Dressing Table (2017), those companions of daily self-care rituals are rendered gently strange but also weighty, imbued with the gravitas of artistic attention. Venables is a master of her craft such that her works exude the intelligence and commitment of her processes of making, which entail endless experimentation and research. As she says, ‘Science and music taught me that there is no end point — just ongoing exploration’.
Venables has received many national and international awards that recognize her contribution to the art and craft of ceramics, including being elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, UK (2003), President of Craft Victoria (2006), Finalist, Officine Saffi Project, Italy (2014, 2017), Australian Design Centre's 9th 'Living Treasure - Master of Australian Craft' (2018), member of the International Academy of Ceramics (2018), finalist, Korean International Ceramic Biennale (2019) and finalist in the Loewe Craft prize 2023, at the Noguchi Museum in New York.
Venables’ work is held in all Australian state and territory Galleries including the National Gallery of Australia, the Museum of Fine Art, Houston, US and Fuping Museum, China, and collections in New Zealand, Europe, UK, USA, Canada, and Japan. P.Venables is also a distinguished arts writer and educator, having mentored and taught generations of ceramicists.
Written by Jacqueline Millner, 2024.
