The Nancy Sever Gallery is pleased to present Triptych | 40 Years of Ceramic Leadership, an exhibition that showcases and celebrates the work of three of Australia’s premier ceramic artists, each of whom led the Ceramics Workshop at the School of Art that is part of the Australian National University: Alan Watt, Janet DeBoos and Greg Daly.

Triptych has been curated by the art historian and arts writer Peter Haynes and is on show from 30 January until 27 February 2022. Gallery hours: 11am-5pm Wednesday to Sunday. For further information please contact nancy.sever@iinet.net.au or 0416 249 102.

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

The exhibition’s title refers to these three artists and is a metaphor for the elements that constitute the overall tripartite framework that is the “triptych” – the three parts that make the single whole.

Alan Watt’s career at the School of Art spanned the years 1979 to 1998. These were formative years for the institution then known as the Canberra School of Art. Watt’s tenure saw the Ceramics Workshop become a drawcard for many respected international and Australian artists and established the Workshop as a centre for ceramics education. Watt’s own practice reflected his strong connection with the land and especially the coastal topographies of the far South Coast of New South Wales. His work embraces the ceramic medium and the special qualities of clay but also extends into exercises in bronze and steel. His singular aesthetic continues to express the monumentality of the land and the intimacy of human connection with the environment.

Janet DeBoos’s tenure covered the years 1998 to 2013. The groundwork established by Watt flourished and national and international connections offered creative and intellectual stimulus to staff and students alike. DeBoos’s work is highly refined and imbued with an intellectual edge that gives it an embracing and vigorous aesthetic tension. Her explorations into the elision, overlaying and interaction of ostensibly unconnected cultures have manifested into an important and distinguished body of work.

Greg Daly headed the Ceramics Workshop from 2013 to 2016. This period was one that saw many changes within the University and within the School of Art. For Daly though the importance of continuing the inculcation of a critical attitude towards the making of the ceramic object was the imperative that impelled his pedagogical approach. In his own work the presence of the Australian landscape is a major component of the beautifully balanced admixture of material, form, surface and decoration that characterises his powerful art.  

The 3 artists of Triptych are masters of their craft. The selected works on display portray a depth of talent rarely seen together. The strength of each individual’s visual language produces powerful ceramic (and other) expressions and underscores the important contribution of the Ceramics Workshop to the development and contemporary history of Australian ceramics.  

Peter Haynes Curator of the exhibition January 2022

ALAN WATT

(To view details of the works on a desktop, please hold cursor over the image. On mobile or tablet, please click on the image and then tap the dot in the bottom right corner).

GREG DALY

(To view details of the works on a desktop, please hold cursor over the image. On mobile or tablet, please click on the image and then tap the dot in the bottom right corner).

JANET DEBOOS

(To view details of the works on a desktop, please hold cursor over the image. On mobile or tablet, please click on the image and then tap the dot in the bottom right corner).

Views of the exhibition