SCOTT DUNCAN
SUMMERTIME BLUES
28 JULY - 19 AUGUST 2023
Summertime Blues is Scott Duncan’s second solo show at The Egg & Dart. With an ArtBank commission and work in private collections, this exciting presentation of new work follows on from an active period of group exhibitions including a showing at Sydney Contemporary in 2022.
Scott Duncan will also be presenting work at the Spring1883 Art Fair, Melbourne in August 2023.
We are looking at a new major work in Scott Duncan’s studio. It has the appearance of a mid-century vessel emerging from what feels like chipped away concrete aggregate. This chunk is surfaced with what appears to be small tiles from the weathered frontage of an old corner store. As the artist says, “I want it to look like an excavation of a milk bar from the 70s.” But while the piece suggests an amalgam of materials, these are wholly ceramic objects with material and conceptual integrity. Darker glazed patches of ceramic mimic the aggregate and the small tiles are formed by a pattern pressed into the clay from the base of a bread crate.
As he assesses the qualities of the newly fired object, Scott Duncan states, ”I’m not a tromp-l’oeil artist.” His core objective is to transfer idea to form, later summarising that, “I made this because I wanted to see what it looked like.”
Consistent with this, Scott Duncan talks about figuring out how to make things as he is making them. The ideas are generated in clay with very little drawing. In the place of drawing is an experimental approach to tools. “Bits of stuff from the kitchen, dome moulds, bevelled edges. I used wedges of balsa to imprint those patterns,” pointing to the clay circular decoration on one of his iconic bird vessels (which another visitor described as feeling like embossed leather bags). These adaptive tools allow him to explore qualities which are not usually found in clay. “I want to explore added texture – texture that does not belong intraditional pottery.”
Summertime Blues, 2023, Raku Clay, Underglaze, Glazes, Acrylic. 77 x 50 x 48 cm.
Peters Pot, 2023. Raku Clay, Underglaze, Glazes, Acrylic. 57 x 25 x 22 cm.
Another development is the artist’s use of text fragments to spark memories or unearth histories. The wall works “Hot Dog” and “Chewie” loop around through word definitions, graphic design memories and contrasting textures.
Mean Streets, 2023, Raku Clay, Underglaze, Glazes, Acrylic, 60 x 40 x 15 cm.
No Bubbles, Big Troubles, 2023, Raku Clay, Underglaze, Glazes, 162 x 212 cm.
Circling this is wit and nostalgia for forms that fold in through generations. Like the feeling of chewing gum in your mouth, then spat out and deposited on a surface, Scott Duncan’s work is a textural, sensory realm hardened into ceramic form.
Words by Melody Willis
Triple Gourd, 2023, Raku Clay, Underglaze, Glazes, Wool, Nylon. 62 x 24 x 14 cm.
Mangoes Bananas, 2023, Raku Clay, Underglaze, Glazes. 59.5 x 37.5 x 4.5 cm.
Goldie, 2023, Raku Clay, Underglaze, Glazes, Wool, Nylon, 44 x 24 x 13 cm.
Toastie, 2023, Raku Clay, Underglaze, Glazes, Wool, Nylon, 39 x 23 x 13 cm.
Blue Bottle, 2023, Raku Clay, Underglaze, Glazes, Wool, Nylon, 39 x 23 x 13 cm.
Musky Adam, 2023, Raku Clay, Underglaze, Glazes, Wool, Nylon, 37 x 21 x 17 cm.
Sun Sets On Cigarettes - Portland Vase II, 2023, Earthenware, underglaze and glazes, 30 x 32 x 15 cm.
Smoko On The Path To Enlightenment, 2023, Raku Clay, Underglaze, Glazes, 31 x 27 x 4.5 cm.
Diggity, 2023, Raku Clay, Underglaze, Glazes, 31 x 27 x 3.5 cm.
Syd, 2023, Raku Clay, Underglaze, Glazes, 20 x 20 x 2 cm.
Blue Beard, 2023, Raku Clay, Underglaze, Glazes, 20 x 20 x 2 cm.
Red Spot Special, 2023, Raku Clay, Underglaze, Glazes, 20 x 20 x 2 cm.
#51, 2023, Raku Clay, Underglaze, Glazes, 20 x 20 x 2 cm.
$8.00, 2023, Raku Clay, Underglaze, Glazes, 20 x 20 x 2 cm.
Down Down, 2023, Raku Clay, Underglaze, Glazes, 20 x 20 x 2 cm.
Golden Nostrils, 2023, Raku Clay, Underglaze, Glazes. 20 x 20 x 2 cm.
Stripes, 2023, Raku Clay, Underglaze, Glazes,
20 x 20 x 2 cm.
Case Face, 2023, Raku Clay, Underglaze, Glazes, 20 x 20 x 2 cm.