I’m delighted to share the stage with my dear friend Yvonne Rees-Pagh (or Bonny) and to present Earth Gestures, an exhibition of my three-dimensional ceramics alongside Yvonne’s two-dimensional paintings and prints.

After the overwhelming experience of my retrospective, Pippin Drysdale: Infinite Terrain at the Art Gallery of Western Australia over the summer of 2025 and 2026, my creative tension was in overdrive. I simply love my art and my passion to create has never diminished – I can be found in my studio seven days a week!

Seeing 440 of my ceramic works at AGWA metaphorically retraced so many journeys that were the cornerstone of each body of work, from Italy, Russia, Pakistan and my enduring muses, the ancient culture, the grandeur and the minutiae of remote Australia. Inspired by fleeting moments of memory, with a vision that is emotional and intuitive, I produce my colours and surfaces in a complex, highly crafted process. When porcelain, glaze and firing combine to heal perfectly, the three-dimensional forms and decoration merge into a unity of sublime harmony, with surfaces that feel as fine as silk. This is the goal of my craft.

I found myself focussing on clouds and weather effects for this new body of work, Earth Gestures. Weather effects range from the fierce and dramatic to gentle mists – and their impact on the land. The pastel installations, with their muted gestural colours such as Pastel Nebula or Thundersnow contrast starkly with the drama of Supercillium Clouds or Sunset Desert Winds.

Sitting alone is my China installation, Gantheaume Point, Broome 2025, so called because it was selected for the First Jingdezhen Exhibition in Jingdezhen, China from October 2025 – April 2026 and has never been seen in Australia. It is an artwork of overlapping stories. With roots in Broome’s history, it draws inspiration from the pristine beaches, ancient dinosaur footprints, the dramatic pindan cliffs and the pearling industry, where Aboriginal, Chinese, Malay, Japanese, European and Filipino cultures combined to create the pearling capital of the world in the last century. The varied vessels and marbles create a play of the subtle and the dramatic that encapsulate the beauty of the red cliffs, indigo ocean and azure sea grasses of the Broome coastline.

As ever, my close collaborative relationship with Warrick Palmateer is central to my practice and we have worked successfully together for over 40 years. Thank you, Warrick!