Jane Aiken

My Name is Jane Aitken and I have worked with clay off and on over many years and have recently been exploring the Japanese Nerikomi technique using coloured porcelain which was inspired by the works of Nanna Bayer and Dorothy Feibleman.

Porcelain offers the ability to explore the range of the many coloured stains that are now available, the patterns that can be created by the various coloured clays and its translucency.

Nerikomi has many processes including colouring the clay, layering, cutting, distorting and compressing, and because I am learning from my own exploration I have had some successful and not so successful finished works. I have started to learn the art of Kintsugi which is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery using a mixture of lacquer and gold powder. I’m looking forward to incorporating this into my next projects.

I use moulds as a guide to form the work during the construction and have learnt to be patient during the drying process and not to get too emotionally attached as anything can go wrong throughout this process.

The strong colours, patterns and textures of the Australian landscape has inspired me to reflect these qualities into my work, and I am constantly experimenting with new ideas to push the boundaries using a mix of dark and light clays. The rough and smooth surfaces, patterns, shadows and colours all add to my journey exploring and capturing this challenging but wonderful medium.