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JANET DEBOOS

Ceramic Artist, ACT, Australia

The same concern- namely the performative nature of making and using- has characterised my work for the past twenty or so years. I often use names that are verbs rather than nouns to draw attention to the way in which the piece might be used. I also imagine various scenarios and will make pieces for a specific occasion or a particular person.

I work at the limits of thrown porcelain, finishing all work whilst the ware is still wet on the pottery wheel, and throwing as thinly as it is possible to do without complete collapse. I do not turn or trim the porcelain to thin it down after it is dry (the more usual way of working with this material), but try to always ‘go with’ the clay and retain the freshness of the act of making. It becomes almost a game that I play with myself- pitting technique against material.