White-hot ceramics on cusp of Australian renaissance

"If you don't do ceramics, you are so yesterday!"

So said Vipoo Srivilasa, whose enthusiasm is so hot it could power a kiln.

And after a career of more than two decades, the Thai-born Australian artist is convinced ceramics is having a moment.

"It's really, really good for ceramic artists right now ... I don't think it's at its peak yet. But it's flowering, it's blooming," he told AAP.

Srivilasa could be referring to one of his ornate porcelain pieces covered in innumerable flowers: one of the largest of these, titled Elarat/Ela, is on display at the National Gallery of Victoria's contemporary art show Melbourne Now.

It's a big, outrageous (every figure in the composition is sticking their tongue out) and celebratory piece, and right now the artist has much to celebrate.

In March, Srivilasa won a $100,000 Australia Council grant, which means he can make art without having to worry about its commercial appeal.

But more than that, he believes the endorsement elevates a discipline often regarded as less worthy than painting or installation art.

"It will definitely help me with my creativity ... it puts ceramics on a level with conceptual art," he said.

Artist and curator Glenn Barkley has a written a book on global ceramics due out in August, and said the discipline has long been part of a gendered hierarchy in the art world.

"I think for a long time when people thought about art, they thought about painting ... ceramics and all the other crafts were down the bottom," he told AAP.

In the 1990s some of the country's major art institutions lost interest in collecting contemporary Australian ceramics, a bias that lasted for decades.

About five years ago Vicki Grima, who recently stepped away as editor of the Journal of Australian Ceramics after 17 years in the job, decided to help turn that around.

In 2019 she donated $50,000 to the Art Gallery of NSW for the acquisition of contemporary Australian ceramics, and the gallery bought works by Kirsten Coelho, Yasmin Smith, Steve Harrison and Peter Cooley.

With Grima's second $50,000 donation another round of acquisitions is under way.

While she wasn't allowed to participate in selection process, Grima's years in the ceramics community meant she knew the chosen artists.

"They are so happy, they are thrilled, they never ever thought their work would end up in a place like that," she said.

Barkley, who was involved in setting up the new fund, says Grima's contribution has sparked broader interest from curators.

"I think it's spectacular ... it's kickstarting ceramics collecting again, and I think that's super important," he told AAP.

According to Grima, the growing interest coincides with artists pushing the boundaries of their material.

Gerry Wedd is among them: heading down the escalator at the Art Gallery of NSW, visitors encounter his life-sized fireplace and mantelpiece, on display as part of Sydney's biennial contemporary art survey The National 4.

It is made from more than 600 handmade blue and white ceramic tiles, many inscribed with the lyrics of popular songs.

"If it makes people smile, that's enough for me," Wedd told AAP.

Another work that will prompt a smile is Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran's Avatar Towers in the gallery's new building, a riot of figures in ceramics and bronze displayed on a structure of pink scaffolding.

And further west at Campbelltown Arts Centre, there is Lynda Draper's 13 Talismans for Unsettled Times.

The series took her a decade to complete, and what's really unsettling about these artworks is how on earth they stand up: from different viewpoints they suggest three-dimensional lacework, candelabra or even chandeliers.

While eye-opening artworks like these show the possibilities of the form, the unique feature of Australian ceramics is the strong presence of Indigenous artists, according to Barkley.

One example on tour at the moment is Penny Evans's gudhuwali BURN, a wall-mounted installation made of more than 280 burnt banksia forms in clay. 

Currently on show in Alice Springs, the artwork is part of the National Gallery of Australia's 4th National Indigenous Art Triennial: Ceremony, and explores the cultural significance of fire and the consequences of failing to follow traditional Aboriginal burning practices.

At the Art Gallery of South Australia in Adelaide there is a celebration of Milton Moon, one of the most influential potters of recent times, who developed a modernist ceramics that was specifically Australian during his 60-year career.

Nearby at the Jam Factory, a major touring exhibition marks the 60th anniversary of the Journal of Australian Ceramics, featuring 22 acclaimed ceramic artists from across Australia.

All these shows are signs of a discipline that is blooming, but according to Vicki Grima, ceramics has always had a fundamental appeal.

It stems from its chemical transformation in the kiln, from mud to rock, and its made-by-hand ethos that's the antithesis of the digital and electronic worlds, she says.

According to Barkley, another part of the attraction is that clay can be a grassroots utilitarian craft, or high-end art.

Not only that, it's everywhere in our daily lives.

"We're surrounded by ceramics - it's from the toilet to the kitchen," he said.

"This is a medium that is really addictive, once you start playing with it, it's hard to stop."

SIXTY is now showing at JamFactory in Adelaide until July 9, Melbourne Now is on at NGV until August 20, The National 4 is on in Sydney until the end of June, and Milton Moon: Crafting Modernism is on at AGSA until August 6.