Stephen Bowers is one of Australia’s leading ceramic artists, but until now his work has rarely been seen in the UK. Known for his sumptuous, layered, painterly vitreous surfaces and direct visual literacy, his work is at once strangely familiar, yet simultaneously mysterious.
‘I am interested in the ability to look back and re-contextualise stories, interpret meanings and examine the legacy of traditions. As well as studying the Australian urban landscape I look at its biological and zoological information and explore Australia’s diverse and multiform human culture. I treat ceramics as a blank canvas upon which I can create pictures, working with unusual decorative techniques more often encountered outside of the familiar patch of the potter. A lot of my images arise in spontaneous ways – a sort of improvised stream of unconsciousness and I explore skills and techniques – particularly the traditional ceramic arts and crafts of the Orient and Europe.’ – Stephen Bowers
