Art & About with Bonnie Hislop

IF YOU’RE GOING TO CREATE SOMETHING NEW, it should be useful or beautiful, according to ceramicist Bonnie Hislop.

The Brisbane-based artist approaches her creative practice with a sustainable focus.

“Ceramics can last thousands of years if they’re taken care of,” she says.

“We have so many things in the world, and I don’t think we need more things unless they’re useful or beautiful, or both.”

This approach flows in her workshops, including the two she will be running for Accomplice in Darwin this month.

“I like to encourage mindful making practices,” she says.

“When people are learning, I find there tends to be an urgency to making – you feel like you need to make as many things as possible. But I like to encourage a slower pace, and help people think about what they’re making and putting in to the world.

“It’s very important to me to provide an item or experience that has a strong sustainable element, but also allow people to make items that they could use in their every day life.”

Hislop’s Darwin workshops will focus on hand-building techniques and functional sculpture, and her classes often attract a diverse, yet like-minded, group of humans.

“There’s not a particular demographic of workshop attendants, it’s more of a mindset,” she says.

“It’s people who want to have a creative outlet or are passionate about increasing their ethical and sustainable practices, and people who want to have a nice outing that doesn’t revolve around food or drinking.”

Sound like you? Get in quick – her Functional Sculpture and Creating a Collection workshop has already sold out and the Intro to Hand Building Techniques workshop is filling up fast.

Intro to Handbuilding Techniques
WHEN SAT 22 JUN | 11AM-4PM
AT ACCOMPLICE
COST $240
INFO creativeaccomplice.com.au