I am a creative soul living and working on Turrbal and Yuggera Country in Brisbane, Queensland.
I make sculptural ceramic artwork that makes my heart sing and other people happy.
MY PRACTICE
My work is, at first glance, a celebration of birds and flowers—but at its core, it is an inquiry into joy and connection.
It reflects the joy I find in combining the tactile experience of clay with human themes and botanical inspiration. This sense of playfulness translates into my finished pieces, inviting others to share in that joy.
As someone from elsewhere else, native flora and fauna offer the South African in me a uniquely Australian way to connect to my adopted home. I explore design, colour and pattern through flowers and foliage and use native birds to bring implied movement, song and often a human narrative.
Underlying all my work is a reminder of our fragile relationship with the natural world.
MY WORK
I create sculptural vessels and totem poles. In my vessels, I explore themes of connection through the rhythms of change—domestic life, friendship, nostalgia and the interplay of absence and return. I draw inspiration from shifting seasons and the ebb and flow of life, weaving threads that mark people, places and past experiences.
They offer a space to playfully explore the relationship between form and surface. I incorporate leather cord, thread, grass and mosaics, to add layers of texture and meaning. Each piece is hand-built, layered with slip, colour and texture across varied clay bodies, and finished with glazes, underglazes, stains and oxides.
My totem sculptures are different. They are bold and designed to make an expressive statement. Each conical form, crowned with a single totem, stands as a quiet yet powerful sentinel among foliage in courtyards and balcony gardens. I enjoy the freedom these simple forms offer — space to paint, carve and layer marks that together build depth and texture, creating imagery that invites contemplation.
Whether through surface design or sculptural form, I embrace the flexibility of moving between two- and three-dimensional art — keeping my practice dynamic, joyful and ever-evolving.
EXHIBITIONS
FRI 17-22 APRIL 2026
PERSPECTIVE
FIELD TRIP GALLERY, 1 LATROBE TCE, PADDINGTON, BRISBANE
Susan Trimble, Rhianon Vichta-Olsen, Kath Artique and Renee Brazel
Join us for a week of inspired, diverse creativity.
🥂 Opening Event TBA
📅 Fri 17 - Wed 22 April 2026
🕙 10am-4pm daily