Graham Hay
Based in Western Australia, Graham Hay is internationally active.
He has participated in over 160 exhibitions in a dozen countries, with artwork published and in public collections in many of these countries. After participating in ceramic, paper and art biennales in Australia, Holland, Argentina, Romania, and Italy, he presented a 500 kg vessel-based sculpture and performance in Personal Structures - no borders, during the 2017 Venice Biennale.
His art practice is inspired by an evolving understanding of the social foundations of art, which has come from invitations to exhibit, speak, and teach in a dozen countries, with a wide range of groups and at all levels. In a more formal sense, his ceramic and paper art are informed by over two decades of critical ethnography research, focussing on collective as well as 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 andragogical.
He has participated in over 160 exhibitions in a dozen countries, with artwork published and in public collections in many of these countries. After participating in ceramic, paper and art biennales in Australia, Holland, Argentina, Romania, and Italy, he presented a 500 kg vessel-based sculpture and performance in Personal Structures - no borders, during the 2017 Venice Biennale.
His art practice is inspired by an evolving understanding of the social foundations of art, which has come from invitations to exhibit, speak, and teach in a dozen countries, with a wide range of groups and at all levels. In a more formal sense, his ceramic and paper art are informed by over two decades of critical ethnography research, focussing on collective as well as 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 andragogical.
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 300 artist talks, 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, and to recently join the Académie Internationale de la Céramique.
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.
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-aholic' 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 do not warp, by Ceramic Chemist Jaromir (Mike) Kusnik OAM (Czech/Aust) . |
He has also pioneered a dry process for creating up to 4 tonne sculptures in 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 developed 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. Currently at Curtin University he is undertaking a ceramic studio practice led PhD research, of local and international artist networks.
These and recent 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, and stays grounded through running very small studio-based classes from Robertson Park Artists Studio in Perth, Western Australia.
Corresponded with an Archaeologist from Ireland he developed 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. Currently at Curtin University he is undertaking a ceramic studio practice led PhD research, of local and international artist networks.
These and recent 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, and stays grounded through running very small studio-based classes from Robertson Park Artists Studio in Perth, Western Australia.