Artist Profile: Adeline Higgins
|| Making ceramics comforting for the green heart in all of us ||
Adeline Higgins (2000, Canberra) is an emerging ceramist working in Canberra and while her practice is at its beginning she already has some engaging works and a real grip of her future in ceramics. When I first looked at Higgin’s works I was fascinated with the organic forms and the connection towards environmental consciousness and comfort. While interviewing Adeline that became even clearer, her focus with functionality, practicality, art, the environmental aspects of making and wider environmental issues within the medium of ceramics.
A newcomer to ceramics, her works have a free-flowing and organic presence. Adeline spoke about being able to have a more unrestrained way of expression through the tactile medium of clay, and being able to be more experimental within her practice. This is really evident when looking at her works. The organic nature of clay lending itself to be able to be more liberated in her making, with ceramics giving much more room for failure and learning from that failure. Higgins had previously come from a gold and silversmithing background so she has used the medium of ceramics to break away from the rule-based practice leaving her with works that are clearly experimental in their forms and yet still feel comforting and familiar which are both core to Higgins practice. Technicality and learning those key ceramic techniques are really at the forefront whilst you’re still at the beginning of a career in ceramics and Higgins is experimenting and creating some really engaging and interesting works within that experimentation “You learn as you go with ceramics” (Higgins 2020).
Functionality and drawing a conversation about environmental consciousness through multipurpose and multifunction works seem at the centre of Higgin’s work. Importantly she focuses on making works that serve a purpose, that isn’t just decorative which lends itself perfectly to ceramics. A perfect example of this is her piece ‘Paper or Plastic #2’ 2019. What looks to be a plastic or paper shopping bag, however, is made out of clay. This is a multifunctional work. An eco-consciously minded item that someone could connect with to grow their own veggies or someone who wants a spot to grow some herbs using less plastic in that way but could also be used in a multitude of different of ways. Thinking about the different ways this work could be used and bringing in different aspects of environmentalism not just using less plastic. The name ‘Paper or Plastic’ blankly stating the environmental meaning behind the piece. You are making that choice between paper or plastic and having ceramics influence that decision. Adeline also spoke about accessibility in this piece and also in her practice more widely. How creating works that are accessible to all people is important. Thinking about accessibility and people who don’t have access to a garden and how can they grow something, contribute and feel helpful in that way.
What I’ve drawn out of Adeline’s work is the interest and focus in functionality and practicality of the medium, whilst also having that eco-consciousness guiding her decisions. Higgins is discovering new things with ceramics and making works that are multipurpose and functioning items is a core part of her practice. I am able to see her influences from other ceramists like Yasmin Falahat and Emma Bartik, through those organic forms and a feeling of comfort and connection to the human body exuding from those forms. Creating works that are familiar and yet still experimental in design.
I am able to understand from looking at Higgin’s work that there is a connection to creating forms that concentrate on comfort and familiarity and how those concepts are deeply embedded within ceramics. Working with the nature of clay to create pieces that explore all these giant concepts weaved together in each piece as well as having that accessibility through multipurpose. Higgin’s is an artist to look out for if you love ceramics and even if you don’t. Her works are extremely engaging and it will be exciting to see where Higgin’s goes with these ideas in the future.
