Woodfire Trio
Sergei Shatrov, Daniel Lafferty & Kirk Winter
The Residents Gallery
7 December - 30 December 2023
OPENING EVENT: Saturday 9th December 2:00pm - 4:00pm
All welcome, free event; RSVP essential
Guest speaker: Dr. Barbara Van Ernst AM
Private previews are available on the 8th of December 12pm - 6pm by appointment, please email:
claytalk@montsalvat.com.au
View the online catalogue BELOW
For enquiries:
E: exhibtion@montsalvat.com.au & claytalk@montsalvat.com.au
The Woodfire Trio honours and displays the wood fire ceramics of Kirk Winter, Daniel Lafferty, and Sergei Shatrov.
More than 25 years ago, the serendipitous meeting of Daniel Lafferty and Kirk Winter unfolded amidst the shared passion for volunteering for the Clay Gulgong team. A place that brought together amateur and professional potters worldwide, collaborating and forging enduring relationships.
In 2010, the trio expanded as Sergei Shatrov joined forces with Daniel and Kirk. All three gathered to build a wood fire kiln at Bombala, which took several weeks of intense teamwork and labour. Strong ties were forged by this venture, resulting in reciprocated firings at Bandicoot Pottery Cobargo for Daniel.
During this period, the Woodfire Trio would share stories, discuss concepts, make pots together, and even collect feldspar rock from Wog Mountain for their glazes. This collective effort contributed immensely to this exhibition's distinctive surface richness and unique variability.
The Woodfire Trio exhibition is an honest display of re-inventing form and surface in this ancient craft. Through clay, ash and fire, this trinity of wood firing, friendships live strong in this Woodfire Trio.
For the first time, Sergei, Kirk & Daniel have come together to showcase their work as friends in this testimony to their craft and abilities as wood fire potters.
Artist bio:
Sergei Shatrov, a Sydney-born artist, has embraced the art of pottery for three decades, presently overseeing Montsalvat's Clay Talk Ceramic Centre in Melbourne. ‘ Whether its digging ones own clay, exploring the variables of an ash glaze or breaking up some rock to sprinkle on the pots, I’ve always enjoyed the process of how materials from nature are expressed on forms. Making pieces with straight lines, hard edges with predetermined outcomes used to be my approach. Today the forms have softer edges as a result of letting go of the piece once its packed into the kiln waiting to be surprised by the unpredictable. Occasionally maddening, it does unfold as a beautiful journey.
A teacher of mine once said:
“Never make judgement on a piece when it comes out of the kiln. Let it sit there or re-fire it until it speaks to you.” - Sergei Shatrov, 2023
Kirk Winter has inquired into the qualities of local materials through ceramic process since 1990. How far can the clay be pushed in formation, how hot should it go, how many times should it be fired and how long until it is done?
It is an antithesis of slick efficient commercial production ware.
Daniel Lafferty is a skilled wheelworker specializing in wood firing with over 40 years experience in pottery. He holds a Diploma of Ceramics from Canberra School Of Art ANU and rebuilt his studio after the Black Summer Fires. Using the squinch arch method in his 180 cf wood-fired kiln, he creates unique 'wild' clay pieces inspired by the Bega Valley. Lafferty's works, with earthy tones and Korean influences, can be found in galleries like Tathra Wharf and Sturt Gallery Mittagong. An international wood-firing specialist, he founded the On The Edge of the Shelf festival at Mystery Bay.
