
Curtain call 120 x 80 x .15cm
maiolica 2003
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I was born on St. Patrick’s Day
in London to an Irish father and English mother.
They wanted a priest in the family but I managed to escape
that fate. After some excruciating schooling I entered Lloyds
of London where I worked in an aviation underwriter’s box in
the ‘Room’. After several excruciating years in insurance I
fled Lloyds, immigrating to Australia in search of adventure
and sun, with my much cherished XK120, British racing green
Jaguar in tow. After a short sojourn in Sydney I headed for
Queensland and eventually found work as a concrete labourer in
Wiepa. I later moved to Mt Isa where I scaled the dizzying
heights to become a sinter plant operator in a lead smelter.
When they offered me the position of shift boss I declined the
offer and moved to Sydney. A girlfriend in Sydney asked me to
build her a pottery kick wheel which I did in the kitchen of
my Bondi flat. She tired of it quickly and went on to become a
computer programmer. I found it fascinating and applied and
was accepted into the Ceramic course at the National Art
School.
To support myself during those years I drove taxis at night,
an education in itself. On graduating in 1973 Les Blakebrough
invited me to be his studio assistant at the Tasmanian School
of Art then at Mt Nelson in Hobart. I spent the next three
years working in the ceramics department before leaving to
establish my own studio.
In 1976 I received an Australia Council Grant to establish
a ceramic studio at ‘Flowerpot’ south of Hobart working in
traditional stoneware and porcelain techniques. While visiting
my family in London in the early 80’s I viewed an exhibition
of fifteenth-century Italian maiolica at the British museum. I
was ‘bowled’ over by the vibrancy and beauty of the
‘istoriato’ platters, albarelli and bowls depicting
mythological, religious and allegorical subject matter. On
returning to Australia, with the assistance of a Tasmanian
Arts Advisory Board Grant, I relocated my studio to its
present location at Kingston Beach where I began research into
tin glazed maiolica and the ceramic painting technique.
Much of the inspiration for my work has since been derived
from the influence of the ‘istoriato’ style and the traditions
of early fifteenth century Renaissance painting.
I have lived and worked professionally as a ceramist in
Tasmania for the past 25 years; exhibiting nationally and
internationally and am represented in many public and private
collections in Australia and overseas.
The story of Claudio Alcorso is an inspirational one of
struggle over adversity, reinvention, success and achievement
at the highest level. It is also a story about displacement
and a yearning for past traditions and the need to recreate a
new world from the old. In the sense that my journey has also
been circuitous and driven by circumstance and chance, there
are parallels with the Alcorso story, only in that I have
found my ‘haven’ in this far flung corner of the world so
removed from my previous life. The work in ‘Haven’ is a
response to the story of Claudio Alcorso and his passionate
involvement in Australian opera, the arts and the preservation
of the environment. This has particular reference to Tasmania
and its pristine wilderness resonating in the human search for
a place of peace and tranquillity on a troubled planet, a
place where one can develop one’s highest potential in freedom
and harmony with ourselves and our environment.
Patrick Collins 2002 |