October 27th, 2024Artists of the Central Highlands

with Eve Lamb

Creativity has always been central in the life of Musk Vale ceramicist Minna Graham. This exceptionally skilled ceramicist creates hand-made, functional tableware with a sculptural twist. Right now Minna is preparing to participate in a national open studio event and to exhibit her work at one of Australia’s foremost contemporary ceramics galleries, the Skepsi Gallery in Malvern.

Eve: What do you draw on for inspiration in creating your work Minna?

Minna: (gestures beyond her studio door) Out there! The bush. Landscape. I think I’ve come to terms recently with the fact that I’m a landscape artist. I’m really interested in mountains and volcanoes. Big inspiring landscapes. And we do travel a lot. I do chase different landscapes. Patagonia is a big one that’s stuck in my memory. Since 2016, when we travelled there, I’ve been having a love affair with the mountains and glaciers of Patagonia The Himalayas. The volcanoes of Indonesia. The Australian desert… And also the small things.

We live very close to the earth here. After a while you notice things in detail, The seasonal changes. There’s so many amazing micro-details that fascinate me like the gum leaves changing colour, tiny little micro orchids. These influence my glazing and colour and texture as well. I like to have a sculptural element to my work … The landscape kind of finds its way into every aspect of my work both physically and metaphorically.

Eve: What are some of your main ceramics career highlights?

Minna: Probably one of the best was that there was an Amazon Prime series that was filmed at Byron Bay called Nine Perfect Strangers, shot in 2020 and starring Nicole Kidman. Anyway when that was happening people who follow me on Instagram started sending me all these photos of Nicole going ‘Cheers’ with a drink in hand, in the series. I was wondering why are all these people sending me photos of Nicole Kidman going ‘Cheers’ and it took me a while to work out that she was going ‘Cheers’ with a piece that I had made. And there is also a breakfast scene in the series which has a lot of my work in it as well. It was especially satisfying because I’ve heard that Nicole Kidman is a bit of a stickler for being in control of the aesthetic.

Eve: That’s an excellent highlight.

Minna. Yes. There was also some artwork in that series by another Daylesford artist as well, Gav Barbey. Some other highlights for me over the past 10 years … I’ve enjoyed being selected for some major ceramics awards in Australia including the North Queensland Ceramic Awards. I’ve been shortlisted as a finalist this year. It’s opening in late November. And at the moment I’ve got three teapots in the Sydney Teapot Show.

Eve: Do you have any special events or exhibitions coming up?

Minna: Yes I will be participating in The Australian Ceramics Association’s national open studios event over November 23-24. My studio here in Musk Vale will be open and I will be doing demos though the day. I will also invite another local artist to be part of the open studio here as well. I will have the upstairs gallery open and work for sale there. I also set up sales items downstairs here in the studio and we have coffee and cake as well… I will also be part of a group exhibition in November at the Skepsi Gallery in Malvern which I’m very excited about. It’s a very well established gallery and attracts a lot of collectors. That opens on November 16 and runs for about a month.

Eve: Have you ever worked in any other sectors Minna?

Minna: I’ve done a lot of other things but I have always been in the creative arts. I have a background in music. I trained as a classical musician and I also used to make costumes for festivals and that sort of thing. Costume making and performing. But then in my late 20s I came back to ceramics and never looked back really. Both my parents were artists so I was never going to escape really.

Eve: Are there any changes that you’ve noticed in the wider realm of professional ceramics practice?

Minna: My God yes. The ceramics scene has enjoyed a real renaissance, probably since COVID. I think ‘ The Great Pottery Throw Down’ may have had something to do with it. Now people are becoming more educated. They have a bit more of an appreciation for handmade things. Ceramics is one of the toughest art forms to learn. There are so many elements to it.

Eve: What are some of the main professional challenges that you have to contend with?

Minna: It can take a good four plus months for me to get a piece from start to finish. It’s very time consuming. There’s zero instant gratification in ceramics (laughs). A friend once said to me when I was unloading the kiln: ‘it’s like some kind of horrible-wonderful anxiety Christmas’. And that’s true!