Where there is rock, earth, and water, there is clay.
Under Fire brings together 18 Western Australian ceramic artists who embrace the elemental, transformative nature of clay. Across sculptural forms and experimental surfaces, the artists explore the line between control and chaos in their making and invoke memory, place and our changing environment.
Structured around four thematic pillars—Sustainability and Wellbeing, History and Change, Metaphor and Symbol, and Chemistry and Alchemy—the exhibition highlights ceramics as both a scientific process and a symbolic language.
Spanning the diverse regions of Western Australia—from the Kimberley to the South West—Under Fire reveals how ceramic practice is rooted in both place and community. The artists come together in a spirit of shared enquiry, continuing a tradition where potters have always gathered—by movement, purpose, or geography.
From ancient kilns to digital experimentation, these artists continue a material tradition that is both street-level and sacred. At its core, Under Fire honours the alchemy of ceramics: earth shaped by hand, forged in flame, and returned as something enduring, expressive, and profoundly human.
Under Fire features the work of Ian Dowling, Valerie Schönjahn, Jess Tan, Emma Vinkovic, Kathy Allam, Andrea Vinkovic, Lorraine Hunter, Jessica Jadai, Nic Kotsoglo, Jackie Masters, Beste Ogan, Cat A. Conner, Graham Hay, Fig. 2, Bernard Kerr, Holly O’Meehan and Fleur Schell
About Australian Ceramics Triennale:
Australian Ceramics Triennale is a flagship event that brings together a nation of makers over five days through keynote speakers, workshops, masterclasses and exhibitions, where the breadth of the community is shared. The Australian Ceramics Association supports the Australian Ceramics Triennale, a national conference held every three years in different locations around Australia. The 2024 Triennale, Wedge, is hosted by Ceramic Arts of Western Australia CAAWA to bring together organisations, groups and individuals from around the world to celebrate, promote and expand a diverse and vibrant ceramic community.
About CAAWA:
The Ceramic Arts Association of Western Australia (CAAWA) was established in 1993. It is a not-for-profit organisation run by members to raise the profile of clay within the community – culturally, educationally, politically and socially. With over 120 members based across Western Australia the aim is to stimulate and expand the production and appreciation of ceramics by delivering workshops, publications, events and exhibitions. CAAWA hosted the Australian Ceramics Triennale in 1999.
