Janet Fieldhouse
{{Short description|Australian ceramic artist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Use Australian English|date=June 2020}}
Janet Fieldhouse (born 1971) is a Meriam Mir ceramic artist based in Cairns, Queensland, Australia. Fieldhouse uses a variety of clays and ceramic techniques to recover, reinterpret and represent Ailan Kastom:Island Custom the cultural practices, symbols and artistic traditions of her Erub community, particularly the significant roles and contributions of women.{{Cite web|url=http://www.nrm.gov.au/indigenous-nrm/torres-strait/continuing-ailan-kastom|title=Continuing Ailan Kastom (Island Custom) in the Torres Strait {{!}} National Landcare Program|website=www.nrm.gov.au|access-date=2020-03-08}} Fieldhouse was introduced to ceramics by artist and Thainakuith elder, Thancoupie Gloria Fletcher James. Since then, Fieldhouse has developed her practice through artist residencies in Japan and the United States and a Master of Philosophy (Visual Arts) at the Australian National University in 2010.{{Cite web|url=http://sheppartonartmuseum.com.au/assets/files/documents/education/SAM_ICA_Edukit_2018.pdf|title=2018 Indigenous Ceramic Award|date=August 2018|website=Shepparton Art Museum}}{{Cite news|last=Clisby|first=Meredith|title=Indigenous artist's inspiring win|date=7 February 2012|work=The Chronicle}}
Fieldhouse is recovering and celebrating Ailan Kastom through an innovative approach to ceramics. Fieldhouse has been awarded several prizes for her work, including the Indigenous Ceramic Art Prize at Shepparton Art Museum in 2007 and 2012, and has work held in public collections throughout Australia and the United States.{{Cite web|url=https://canberrapotters.com.au/project/janet-fieldhouse/|title=Janet Fieldhouse|date=2017-08-17|website=Canberra Potters|language=en-AU|access-date=2020-03-08}}Fieldhouse, Janet. CV. URL: http://www.vivienandersongallery.com/media-files/artist_cvs/Janet%20Fieldhouse%20CV%20Nov%202019.pdf Retrieved: 8/3/2020
Early life
Janet Fieldhouse was born in Cairns, Queensland, and maintains strong connections with her matrilineal connections to Badu (Mulgrave), Mua (Moa), Kirriri (Hammond) and Erub (Darnley) islands and South Sea Islander communities.{{Cite web|url=https://www.the-national.com.au/artists/janet-fieldhouse/confluence/|title=Artists {{!}} The National|website=www.the-national.com.au|language=en|access-date=2020-03-08}}
Career and practice
Combining varieties of earthenware, stoneware and porcelain clays with natural fibres, found materials and multimedia, Fieldhouse evokes the foremost importance of a continuing connection to Country and Culture for Torres Strait Islander Peoples. Fieldhouse's work "is an expression of her Torres Strait Islander heritage: the material culture, rituals of social and religious life, and artefacts which are created to fulfil the functional and spiritual needs of the peoples of the Torres Strait," and focusses specifically on the contributions of women to Ailan Kastom.{{Cite web|url=http://www.vivienandersongallery.com/artists/janet-fieldhouse/bio|title=Vivien Anderson Gallery|website=www.vivienandersongallery.com|access-date=2020-03-08}}
It is the ceremonial scarification and body adornment of Torres Strait Islander women that is most documented by Fieldhouse's practice. Using Keraflex flexible porcelain, Fieldhouse translates oral histories from Erub and Badu Elders into intricately carved translucent discs, illuminated by light-boxes set beneath the surface in her Comb and Pendant series.{{Cite web|url=https://materialdistrict.com/material/keraflex-porcelain/|title=Keraflex Porcelain|website=MaterialDistrict|language=en-US|access-date=2020-03-08}}{{Cite web|url=http://sheppartonartmuseum.com.au/paradise-again-gallery-item/!/312/item/29|title=Janet Fieldhouse|website=Shepparton Art Museum|access-date=2020-03-08}} Her 2011 work Tattoo is a porcelain piece featuring symbols and imagery from women's scarification traditions which are no longer practiced in the Torres Strait. This work was awarded the Indigenous Ceramic Art Award in 2012. Tattoo is featured in the Shepparton Art Museum online exhibition, "Paradise Again".{{Cite web|url=http://sheppartonartmuseum.com.au/paradise-again|title=Paradise Again|website=Shepparton Art Museum|access-date=2020-03-08}}
In a 2011 exhibition at Vivien Anderson Gallery, "Journey", Fieldhouse combines white raku, red raku and Cool Ice porcelain with feathers, string, acrylic paint, synthetic polymer paint, demonstrating her innovative approach to ceramics. She also incorporates terracotta clay from the Mekong River in Laos, where she travelled in 2010 and worked with local potters."Janet Fieldhouse - Journey" Vivien Anderson Gallery exhibition room sheet, 23 February- 19 March 2011. In the same year, Fieldhouse was a featured artist in the Vivien Anderson Gallery group exhibition, "The Women's Show," which showcased the diversity and innovation of Australian First Nations women artists."The Women's Show" Vivien Anderson Gallery, exhibition postcard, 2011.
Achievements
Fieldhouse has been the recipient of several awards and prizes for her contributions to both contemporary Australian ceramics and Australian First Nations art. in 2018, Fieldhouse was a featured artist in The National in Sydney,{{Citation needed|date=March 2020}} exhibiting her Comb and Pendant series in the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney, New South Wales.{{Citation needed|date=March 2020}}
Collections
- National Gallery of Australia{{cite web |title=Janet Fieldhouse |url=https://artsearch.nga.gov.au/detail.cfm?irn=190249 |website=Collection Search |publisher=NGA |access-date=9 March 2020}}
- National Gallery of Victoria{{cite web |title=Janet Fieldhouse |url=https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/explore/collection/artist/19577/ |website=Collection Online |publisher=NGV |access-date=9 March 2020}}
- Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art{{cite web |title=Janet Fieldhouse |url=http://collection.qagoma.qld.gov.au/qag/imu.php?request=load&count=20&PublishOnIMuInternet=Y&CreCreatorLocal_tab=%20FIELDHOUSE,%20Janet |website=Collection Search |publisher=QAGOMA |access-date=9 March 2020}}
Footnotes
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References
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Category:21st-century Australian women artists
Category:21st-century Australian artists