Isobel Carver — Shelley Simpson Ceramics Prize

Congratulations to BA (Fine Art) Ceramics student Isobel Carver who was announced as the winner of the inaugural Shelley Simpson Ceramics Prize for 2021.

Isobel (@bellc_) will receive $10,000 to support her final year of study, along with the offer of 3-month paid internship at Mud Australia (@mudaustralia).

Isobel’s winning project is entitled Time Goes By, and is a conceptual expression of her experience of the 8-month lockdown in Melbourne last year. Isobel explains the work “as a material vessel to convey the notion of time. It is representative of time through how long it took to make the forms, the use of time to control thickness in slip casting, and the slowed controlled time of the clay particles compressing as the forms dried.”

“Isobel’s work was mature, resolved and refined — her imagery and video component which she submitted was an incredible artwork in itself. The simplicity of the spherical forms and the way the work absorbs light is really beautiful. Isobel’s work resonated and responded with her situation, living through the lengthy Melbourne lockdowns and her changing perception of time.“
— Shelley Simpson, founder and creative director of Mud Australia

Images of Isobel in her home studio by Becca Crawford (@beccacrawford).