A lovely milestone commission

Late last year I received an email requesting custom platters to be gifted by the Presiding Officers in Parliament in Canberra. We were to work from the topography platters I had previously made for Rosebay and the Meeting of the Waters idea for Echuca–Moama. It was requested for the senators of Perth, Brisbane and Canberra, so I got to work quickly.

I began with the waterways of each place as my initial starting point, then considered how best to capture and represent the environmental features and the built urban landscapes within the limits of the ceramic carving techniques I use. For each platter I mapped the major watercourses and shorelines, and layered in the distinctive contours and settlement patterns that give each city its character — the sheltered river bends of Brisbane, the sweeping Swan River curves in Perth, and the structured precincts around Canberra’s lakes and parliamentary precinct.

I also created information cards to share the history and context of each place, prioritising First Peoples’ connections and ongoing care for these ancient lands alongside the later colonised histories. These cards explain the cultural significance of the landscape features represented on the platters and give recipients a considered narrative to accompany the object.

I’ve called the range “craft shaped by time and place,” and I carried that vernacular through the presentation of the gift — from the tactile surface of the carved ceramics to the design and wording of the information cards. It was a true joy to be entrusted with such a meaningful commission and to respond with work that honours landscape, culture and craft.