Jan Guy

Biography

Jan Guy is an artist and writer. She maintains a broad practice and interest in
ceramics with a specific focus on sculptural and installed works. While her personal
research is presently concerned with relationships between the haptic senses and
virtual spaces, she has an ongoing interest in feminist art practices and craft and
design theory. Guy has been an advocate for the growth and continuation of Australian ceramic arts through extensive writing for national journals and major exhibitions in the field, including 'Celebration', the catalogue essay for the 2000 Australian Ceramics Association exhibition and, more recently, the 2006 SOFA catalogue. Guy has been the recipient of a National Craft Acquisition Award and her
work is in the collection of the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory. In 2009 Guy was a member of the organising committee for the 1st Australian Ceramics Triennale. She also established CELSIUS, an online peer-reviewed journal for the disciplines of ceramics, glass and jewellery and object design.

Research

Presently, Guy's research involves the development of what is known as mixed realities – a combination of physical and virtual objects/environments. The field of neuroscience has seen a growing interest in research into the senses with a specific focus on their symbiotic ralationships. Her particular focus is the haptic senses, specifically their pivotal role in our formation of self and reality. Touch has been a relatively ignored sense in the visual arts, but with the proliferation of computer-generated artworks and spaces, its consideration may afford new avenues for evaluating old technologies/forms such as ceramics, and the possible futures of embodiment.

Recent Exhibitions

Ceramic Surgery, Criterion Gallery, Hobart, 2010

Erewhons, Horus & Deloris Contemporary Art Space, Sydney, 2009

NoWhere NowHere (Erehwon), Horus & Deloris Contemporary Art Space, Pyrmont, 2007

Reading Room, Soapbox Gallery, Brisbane, 2000

Peel, Soapbox Gallery, Brisbane

Cargo, Soapbox Gallery, Brisbane, 1999

Homebrand, Casula Powerhouse, Liverpool, 1997

Walking into Doors, Zitlip Gallery, Sydney, 1995

The Skin of the Milk, Tin Sheds Gallery, Sydney, 1993

Recent Publications

'Clothes Maketh: The work of Clare Bond' , Black Cat Publishing, 2010

'Bad Manners and Family Dinners ,CELSIUS', USyd/Australian Ceramics Triennale, 2009

'Tides of Hair', Lino, Issue 18, 2007

'Never Ever Been a Blue Calm Sea: Notes on the works of Helen Pynor (catalogue essay), Dianne Tanzer Gallery, Melbourne, 2007

'Solids of Time: The ceramic works of William Lungas', Ceramics Art and Perception, No.67, March-May, 2007

'Australian Contemporary Ceramics SOFA Chicago, USA' (catalogue essay on work of Jenny Orchard), The Jam Factory, 2006

'Breathing in the Shadows of Aporia' (catalogue essay),Harrison Galleries, Paddington, dmp creative group Sydney, 2006

'Breathing Shadows' (catalogue essay), Linden Gallery, Centre for Contemporary Art, 2005

'Not a Dying Art', Journal of Australian Ceramics, vol.42, no.2, 2003

'How to Make a Silk Purse Out of a Sow’s Ear: Material Deception exhibition, Object Gallery, 2001

Research Supervison

Clare Bond, PhD, 'Enrobing'

Clarissa Regan, PhD, 'Phantasmagoria, simulacra and archive fever'

Brett Smout, PhD, 'Green ware: Low temperature ceramics incorporating recycled waste'

Trevor Fry, MVA, 'Pottery is the new video'

Jacqui Spedding, MVA, 'The object of the archive'

Jan Howlin, MVA, 'Untitled'

Nancy Ma, MVA, 'My clothes, my life'

Yasmin Smith, MVA, 'Untitled'

Denise Hume, MVA, 'Moving in place'

Marina Hyasat, MVA, 'Object perception and the nature of human thought'

Awards & Grants

National Craft Acquisition Award, 1989

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