My fifth international top ten artist is Kerryn Madsen-Pietsch. Kerryn lives and works in Innisfail, Queensland, Australia. She works in a number of different media, mostly painting and mixed media, all with a similar organic vibe. She only has two images of clay work posted on her website, but I was immediately drawn to them in the sea search images I was digging through. She has worked for many years honing her craft, and exhibiting extensively. She also is the owner and curator of an art gallery in the town where she lives. I take note of that out of admiration, that she is actively pursuing her own work, and also running a business of her own. Specifically, this gives me hope to continue balancing all the stuff I have going on and still be successful in some form. No to mention her work! I love the organic shapes of all of her work, no matter the medium, and in these two images:
I love the depth and intricacy of the carving. And the energy of the imagery she chooses. This particular piece is from 1988, and you can see in subsequent paintings and other pieces how these shapes have evolved. However much or little of ceramic art Kerryn has done, these pieces jumped out at me for their monochrome finish and energy of line, and rang in my mind as another landmark for the carving I hope to pursue myself.
This piece is from 2001, and the carving and shapes have clearly evolved. I love the clean lines and the bold but simple presentation. The added element of the figure also caught my attention, since I hope to join the tile elements I’ve been working on with the figurative work I was working on last year. Having run about a hundred different renditions of that through my mind in the last few months, this image will serve as a note for the possibilities that I hadn’t really considered consciously, though that ring true now that I’ve seen it.
hanna eastin 