Two Auckland potters contrast in Chch

Press, 25 July 1985, Page 20

Two Auckland potters contrast in Chch

Two Auckland potters, at The Pottery and Friends, City Mall, until August 5. Reviewed by Barry Allom. The work ot two Auckland potters is so different that it is interesting to see them appear together in an exhibition running at the Pottery and Friends in the City Mall. Sally Vinson’s earthenware is stark in its stiff simplicity and catches the eye with its contrasts in colours and formal design. In her small rather exquisite porcelain pieces, Beverley Luxton explores a range of colour in her glazes not often seen in this part of the country. She has long shown her mastery of porcelain as a medium and in this exhibition we see 30 highly sophisticated little pots ranging from off-white through to a variety of pinks to plum and brown with gold and silver lustre overlays. Beverley Luxton uses porcelain in quite a different way from David Brokenshire and the over-all impact of this exhibition is eye-catching and effectively displayed despite the accumulation of small similar sized pieces. Much less finely edged than Brokenshire’s pots, Beverley Luxton achieves her effect by the subtle use of colour in her glazes and

the over-all fluidity of line rather than through the more natural forms and direct statement of the clay. Particularly pleasing is the cut-away effect and blush of yellow and pink with gold line on the delicate mother-of-pearl backgrounds of the Rainbow Bowls, No.’s 1-3, and the Cut-Top Rainbow Pots. The low, flat shell-like pill boxes, with their curious little finger spaces, are more successful than the tubular shaped ring boxes with lids not always tightly fitting. The delicate shallow bronze and pink, gold and silver footed dishes are typical of Beverley Luxton’s quietly stylish work. These are upstaged by three sets of squat little perfume bottles in rich colours with their tiny silver-and-gold stoppers prominently displayed despite their miniscule size. These tend to steal the show. But the outstanding pieces of this exhibition are three simple, slightly squared Rainbow Pots — No.’s 4-6. Their simple forms, iridescent white backgrounds and subtle streaks of colour are totally effective. Despite the appeal and stylishness of this exhibition there is a lack of a sense of development — that the potter has been there before. But what Beverley

Luxton does do she does superbly. By way of contrast Sally Vinson’s domestic earthenware with its greyish backgrounds and stylised blue and brown leaf and plant designs are more practical though equally distinctive. Her work, like that of Anneke Borren, though more formal and geometric, also conveys a feeling of the South American Indian. The fresh, clean blue and white effect of the stylised panels of leaf and plant designs is a foil to the homely squatness of the teapots and cheese dishes. Her vases and coffee mugs are more angular and sculptural than much of the local domestic ware. The shiny formality of her glazes is a surprising contrast to the red earthiness of the clay which is always quite explicitly present in her finished pots. There is a bold awkwardness about her work which I find a little disconcerting. Technically well-executed, they have something of a mass production quality, though they are never mundane. It is well worth seeing this exhibition by two wellknown woman potters from Auckland, a city which has for some time been the creative force if not the centre of innovation in New Zealand pottery.