ART/EDIT MAGAZINE
Living in Lismore New South Wales where she runs Basso Studio, multi-disciplinary artist Antoinette O’Brien is currently working in clay, creating a series of busts and full-figure sculptures. Whilst she has always maintained a studio practice, Antoinette has come into her own recently, working towards a diploma in ceramics. The arresting faces of her ceramic forms gaze out with a lifelike intensity, revealing a consideration of painting techniques. High fired and glazed through multiple firings including reduction, oxidation and lustre, the clay is pushed to its limits, resulting in tearing and buckling that speaks to themes of endurance and precarity. With glazes made from scratch and tested extensively, Antoinette approaches her craft with discipline and was recently awarded the Hurford Hardwood Portrait Prize by esteemed artist Abdul Abdullah. Antoinette is preparing for a solo exhibition at Lismore Regional Gallery in August this year.
Featured image: Antoinette O’Brien, Sitting Pretty. Ceramic and found object, 47 x 36 x 28cm