Rachael McCallum
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Artist Statement
I understand Ceramic material as a liquid caught in moments of transitional states, this is fundamentally where my interest lies: change, uncertainty, an undefined becoming.
So often in the tradtional art history narrative I see so much representation and depth illusion. However I feel, with photography so accessible, that contemporary realism is thoroughly documented. Its the unreal - the opposite of reality - that is curious and valuable. Carrying a fascination of colour as expression, I give it form, as artifact. I want to make tangilbe and real the very transient instincts of play, harmony, flow, or pull.
In my practice, glaze becomes a visual metaphor for natural phenomena and tense, emotional landscapes of abstraction. Glaze drips and pools beyond the canvas plane, asserting its three-dimensionality. These objects catch light, casting shadows that continue the composition into its surrounds. Such surfaces speak in relationships—between texture, edge, and form—creating dynamic conversations across space.
A core driver of my work is through material science and physics, including the idea “there is no such thing as two-dimensional”. Even the thinnest surface has depth. My ceramic paintings embrace this truth, inviting viewers to consider the physics of presence, the beauty of impermanence, and the quiet drama of materials in motion.
Each piece is a singular event. The collision of glaze, clay, and fire produces compositions that resist replication. Shapes in my work are deliberately ambiguous—abstract presences that oscillate in meaning. They hint at lakes, snakes, handbags, or even black Doritos, yet remain uncommitted to any one identity. This ambiguity invites viewers to project their own interpretations, allowing the work to become a mirror for emotional, instinctual and psychological resonance.
This approach reflects an ongoing inquiry into the semiotics of form and the psychology of perception—an interest shaped by a continued research and arts practice.
Works are held in private and institutional collections, where their singularity and material complexity continue to provoke dialogue around value, vulnerability, and the role of chaos in creative authorship.