FOUR talented ceramic artists will showcase their distinctively different styles in a very unique joint exhibition at The Q.
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Apart from their obvious passion and talent for art, the only other thing the four artists - Hiroe Swen, Anita McIntyre, Maxine Price and Chris Harman - have in common is their connection to Queanbeyan. They are all current or former residents of the town.
Cultural development officer Georgina Perri coordinated and curated the exhibition which was titled "Clay 2620". She said it was a privilege to host the show which had been more than a year in the making.
"This is very special because we have the generations being represented. It's a great mix of people at different stages of their artistic life," she said.
"They're all active, beautiful makers and beautiful practitioners all making different works. It really showcases the talent we have in the Queanbeyan region."
The exhibition will be held at The Q Exhibition Space and will be part of the Stepping Up: 14th Australian Ceramics Triennale 2015.
"It's a huge deal [the Triennale]. There'll be international, national and local artists all coming together to exhibit, give lectures and do firings," Ms Perri said.
"We were lucky enough to be invited to be a satellite exhibition venue. It will bring lots of people over to see Queanbeyan and The Q."
'Clay 2620' will be officially opened by local author Nichole Overall on Wednesday, July 1 at 6pm.
There will also be an artists' floor talk and question and answer session on Thursday, July 16 at 11am.
Read below to find out more about each artist...
Hiroe Swen
AN inductee into Queanbeyan Cultural Honours Gallery, Hiroe Swen has long been regarded as one of Australia's foremost ceramic artists.
She was born and educated in Kyoto, Japan but moved to Australia in 1968 after marrying Australian artist/designer Cornel Swen.
Hiroe's ceramics are collected all over the world with the National Gallery of Australia holding one of the largest collections with more than forty pieces.
Hiroe taught ceramics at The School of Art, Australian National University, for 18 years, and went on to complete a five-year Visiting Fellowship.
Hiroe and Cornel still reside in Queanbeyan today.
Ms Perri describes the 81-year-old as a 'national living treasure' whose work is widely admired.
"Her style is very controlled, handmade, beautifully handmade slab and coil built pieces," Ms Perri said.
"She is so refined and constrained in a very positive way. It's what she leaves out makes the pieces so beautiful. Her amazing knowledge of glaze and surface is what she's known for."
Anita McIntyre
ANITA was born and raised in Queanbeyan. Her ancestors, on both her mother's and father's side settled in Queanbeyan and the nearby districts from the mid 1800s.
Anita was schooled at Queanbeyan High School where in the 1950s she was the only student studying art. There being no art teacher, Anita studied via correspondence, winning a scholarship to study art at East Sydney in 1957, but was unable to go.
After marriage and children, Anita attended the Canberra School of Art to study ceramics, where in 1970 one of her first teachers was newly arrived Japanese ceramic artist Hiroe Swen.
Anita went on to teach at the Canberra School of Art for over 30 years with her close friend and colleague Hiroe Swen.
"Anita is very interested in history and the landscape and indigenous inhabitants of Australia," Ms Perri said.
"She has an interest in mapping and is doing a lot of work on Googong at the moment."
Maxine Price
MAXINE Price has a long association with Queanbeyan going back to the 1920s when a family member owned a tailoring shop in the main street.
She has lived in the area since the early 1970s and currently works out of her own studio in Jerrabomberra.
Maxine moved into figurative ceramics around 20 years ago after a lifelong interest and practice in life drawing.
She is represented in a number of galleries around Australia, and exhibits regularly both locally and interstate.
"Maxine enjoys playing with figurative images and talking about relationships and life's joys and troubles," Ms Perri said.
Chris Harman
BORN in Colorado, USA, Chris moved to Australia to study Ceramics and Glass at the Canberra School of Art, Australian National University in 2000.
Chris has resided in Queanbeyan for 12 years, actively exhibiting and participating in community art and craft events.
In 2014, Chris won the inaugural Queanbeyan Clearwater Sculpture Prize for his steel piece titled 'Reed Specimen (In memory of Frank Schmidt)'.
"Chris is very interested in experimenting with different constructions and representations of nature in particular cacti, succulents and fungi," Ms Perri said.