Stewart Scambler: Naked in the Land

Stewart Scambler, Aftermath. Woodfired stoneware. Courtesy: the artist and Bunbury Regional Art Gallery, Bunbury.

Stewart Scambler is one of WA’s most prolific and respected ceramic artists. The works in this show reflects his response to the land. Not just the visual as experienced from a bus, car or aircraft but the actual experience of being in the land and open to its presence.

The work is made from clay and minerals sourced from Western Australia and is prepared for use by hand. Majority of the pieces are woodfired over 51 hours to 1320C using wood from Stewart’s property in York. Some pieces are also hand built and fired in an electric kiln.

The surfaces of the pieces are a combination of the clays and minerals from the wood ash, some smooth and some challengingly sharp and rugged. The process works by throwing fire and ash at the pieces so there is an element of uncertainty reflected in the final result.

“I feel it’s elegant to talk about the land using materials that come directly from it” – Stewart Scambler, 2023.

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