Graham Hay
Graham Hay is an international artist based in Western Australia.
He has participated in over 160 exhibitions in a dozen countries, with his artwork in textbooks and public collections in many of these countries. Hay has participated in ceramic, paper and art biennales in Australia, Holland, Argentina, Romania and Italy(3). In 2017 he presented a 500 kg vessel based sculpture and performance in Personal Structures - no borders, a Venice Biennale Parallel Event.
His art practice is informed by over two decades of critical ethnography research, focussing on collective and individual artistic expression. Ethnography began as a static, statistical study of culture. It was an anthropology, then sociologically based field of research. Critical ethnography is more contemplative, acknowledging its participatory and subjectivity bias. Hay's critical ethnography approach is both political and pedagogical.
He has participated in over 160 exhibitions in a dozen countries, with his artwork in textbooks and public collections in many of these countries. Hay has participated in ceramic, paper and art biennales in Australia, Holland, Argentina, Romania and Italy(3). In 2017 he presented a 500 kg vessel based sculpture and performance in Personal Structures - no borders, a Venice Biennale Parallel Event.
His art practice is informed by over two decades of critical ethnography research, focussing on collective and individual artistic expression. Ethnography began as a static, statistical study of culture. It was an anthropology, then sociologically based field of research. Critical ethnography is more contemplative, acknowledging its participatory and subjectivity bias. Hay's critical ethnography approach is both political and pedagogical.
I'm interested in the social foundations of cultural production, so my personal response to the context of my making, or that of my exhibiting work, saturates the work itself." |
Graham graduated from the Universities of Western Australia, Edith Cowan and Curtin.. While he works across different mediums, he is an internationally recognised as a pioneer in the paper clay sculpture movement. Having given over 330 lectures, workshops and demonstrations in a dozen countries, he was invited to co-lead the first international paper clay symposia in Hungary, the US and Norway. Paper clay is now a third of all clay used in pottery and sculpture studios and classrooms in Western Australia, offering both an easier entry pathway for clay beginners, and increased creativity potential for experienced potters and sculptors.
I have been a 'clay-holic' since childhood, transferring my enthusiasm to the new material paper clay in 1992. This was after being introduced to it as a way to make tiles that don't warp, by Ceramic Chemist Mike Kusnik. |
He has also pioneered a dry process for creating up to 4 tonne compressed paper, a type of artificial wood, which he exhibits both inside and permanently outside in the weather. In response to questions on the permanency of these structures, he worked with a Mycologist and a Fungi and bacteria Artist to infect one of his sculptures with these agents for biodegradation. Corresponded with an Archaeologist from Ireland he develop creative ideas, and later participated together on a panel during the Dublin Biennale and co-authored a journal article for the Irish national ceramic arts journal. Assisted by an engineer, and after meeting with Italian 3D printing experts, Graham assembled and hacked a 3D printer, so that it printed in paper clay. These and more projects are documented here.
Generous by nature, he has written over 20 journal articles on paper clay, paper and art, and provides a huge, information packed website www.grahamhay.com.au on art and techniques, while running small studio-based classes from Robertson Park Artists Studio in Perth, Western Australia.
Generous by nature, he has written over 20 journal articles on paper clay, paper and art, and provides a huge, information packed website www.grahamhay.com.au on art and techniques, while running small studio-based classes from Robertson Park Artists Studio in Perth, Western Australia.