milly dent wishful thinking - saintcloche.com · wishful thinking. sydney based ceramist milly...
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12 - 23 FEBRUARY 2020
MILLY DENT
wishful thinking
Sydney based ceramist Milly Dent’s latest offering is an ambitious new body of work from a period of time working in China recently. Milly took part in many workshops with local craftsmen in Jingdezhen (where porcelain originates) from which she took elements of new skills learnt and integrated them into the ‘Wishful Thinking’ body of work. This body of work was crafted using various techniques and technologies specific to the ‘Jingdezhen’ skillset.
When in Jingdezhen, Milly made a number of visits to the abandoned Jingtao Factories in Jingdezhen where she came across a landscape of floors lined with porcelain fragments, degrading moulds and models, unfinished works. Over the 20 years in which the factory had been abandoned, nature had started reclaiming the building; plant-life had grown through floors and walls, creating an intersection between nature and man-made, temporality and permanency.
“For my latest body of work, I’ve used porcelain to highlight temporality and beauty in the linear progression of things changing. My intention – to pay homage to the power of tactility and
texture, and complex matrixes found in nature.
I developed a series made from degrading plaster forms found in the abandoned factory, of which
the natural elements had shaped the once round bottle into a 3 sided, crumbling plaster block.
I then developed a series of forms which are somewhat zoomorphic, visually alluring yet possibly tactilely repellant. I’ve intended that the works give off a dynamic sense of something taking
shape with subtle shifts in surface finish, from raw unglazed porcelain to a full spectrum of
traditional Chinese Celadon gloss glazes, resulting, in a collection of coral, growth-like creatures.”
Milly Dent is a Sydney based ceramic artist whose work explores the material of porcelain through uniquely handcrafted, exclusive ceramic goods. In her recent sculptural work, Milly further investigates porcelain, through a series that bonds perpendicular lines with balanced and fluid clay bodies. Exploring this dichotomy, she examines light and shadow through sculptural ceramic form. Milly’s work is a continued study of the intimate, tangible and ever challenging nature of porcelain.
This is Milly’s 7th showing at Saint Cloche, and third solo. Milly has recently returned from an Art Residency in Jingdezhen, the birthplace of porcelain in the world some 2000 years ago, after completing artist residency with the support of the Ian Potter Cultural Trust. Milly is Interested in China’s rich porcelain history and its influence on contemporary practice.
Chartreuse Elixer Jingdezhen Porcelain, Green Celadon, PVD Lustre 10 x 14 x 26 cm $550
Dusty Pink Elixer Jingdezhen Porcelain, Pink Celadon, PVD Lustre 10 x 14 x 26 cm $550
Gold Elixer Jingdezhen Porcelain, Glaze, PVD Lustre 10 x 14 x 26 cm $620
Matt Elixer Jingdezhen Porcelain, Glaze 10 x 14 x 26 cm $480
Blue Celadon Elixer Jingdezhen Porcelain, Celadon Glaze 10 x 14 x 26 cm $480
Green Celadon Elixer Jingdezhen Porcelain, Celadon Glaze 10 x 14 x 26 cm $480
Psyche I Earthenware Clay, Clear Gloss Glaze 37 x 26 x 42 cm $1,100
Psyche II Earthenware Clay, Clear Gloss Glaze 15 x 15 x 16 cm $390
Prong Jingdezhen Porcelain, Duck Egg Glaze 14 x 22 x 12 cm $650
Corolla Jingdezhen Porcelain, Clear Gloss Glaze 17 x 16 x 11 cm $750
Claw Jingdezhen Porcelain, Celadon Glaze, Gold Lustre 17 x 21 x 13 cm $570
Membrane Jingdezhen Porcelain, Celadon Glaze 22 x 16 x 11 cm $650
Crimp Jingdezhen Porcelain, Celadon Glaze, Green Glaze and White Matte Glaze 19 x 12 x 9 cm $600
Shaggy Jingdezhen Porcelain, Celadon Glaze 16 x 16 x 12 cm $800
Drift Jingdezhen Porcelain, Celadon Glaze 29 x 14 x 16 cm $800
Trypop Jingdezhen Porcelain, Celadon Glaze 28 x 26 x 15 cm $800
Serrate Jingdezhen Porcelain, Celadon Glaze 24 x 17 x 7 cm $660
Engulf Jingdezhen Porcelain, Celadon Glaze 24 x 16 x 12 cm $750
Blotch Jingdezhen Porcelain, Celadon Glaze 24 x 16 x 7 cm $720
Melting Elixer I Recycled Australian Porcelain, Clear Gloss Glaze, Gold Lustre 10 x 14 x 26 cm $620
Melting Elixer II Recycled Australian Porcelain, Clear Gloss Glaze, Gold Lustre 12 x 14 x 23 cm $550
Melting Elixer III Recycled Australian Porcelain, Clear Gloss Glaze, Gold Lustre 16 x 14 x 14 cm $500
Melting Elixer IV Recycled Australian Porcelain, Clear Gloss Glaze, Gold Lustre 12 x 14 x 25 cm $500
Melting Elixer V Recycled Australian Porcelain, Clear Gloss Glaze, Gold Lustre 16 x 11 x 26 cm $550
Tumble Weed Installation Australian Porcelain, Resin 150 x 110 x 30 cm $1,300
Absolute II 3D Modelling & Printing, Lost Wax Casting, Polished Bronze 15 x 11 x 11 cm $2,400
Ressurect Australian Porcelain 27 x 23 x 8 cm $720
Eventide Australian Porcelain, Clear Gloss Glaze, Gold Lustre 28 x 20 x 12 cm $500
Immortality Australian Porcelain, Clear Gloss Glaze, Gold Lustre 29 x 20 x 21 cm $560
Legacy Australian Porcelain, Clear Gloss Glaze, Gold Lustre 18 x 20 x 18 cm $560
Rhythm Australian Porcelain, Clear Gloss Glaze, Gold Lustre 28 x 19 x 11 cm $580
Cyclical Australian Porcelain, Clear Glaze 18 x 18 x 18 cm $500
Avid Australian Porcelain, Clear Gloss Glaze, Gold Lustre 20 x 20 x 16 cm $500