Experimental works: Wheel thrown & altered, Tamborine Mt clay fired in reduction 1300oC.
Material Engagement with Volcanic Clays of Tamborine Mountain
In late 2025 I began the Master of Research programme at University of Southern Queensland, part time. In 2026 I took my studies full time after I was awarded a RTP scholarship stipend. I have now transferred into the PhD programme and am a confirmed candidate completing a thesis and creative works.
My research emerged from a shift in my practice: away from a disciplined approach that sought to control the local clays I dug, and towards one that understands material, site and maker as mutually shaping the work through an ongoing process of response and negotiation.
The volcanic clays, rocks, minerals and ash I collect on Tamborine Mountain are not passive substances within this process, but active participants that shape how the work develops. Through sustained engagement with these materials and their site of origin, my practice has become a process of testing, responding and adjusting. Authorship is therefore distributed across maker, material and environment. I see these materials as geological archives, holding traces of time, pressure and transformation while bringing overlooked earth histories into view.
To frame this relationship between maker, material and site, I draw on Lambros Malafouris’s Material Engagement Theory, which positions thinking as emerging through material engagement. This is further shaped by Karen Barad’s account of entangled matter and meaning, and Jane Bennett’s concept of vibrant matter. Collectively, these ideas shape my understanding of clay as a co-creator, with agency emerging between maker and material. The study adopts a practice-led methodology that combines systematic material experimentation, reflective studio practice, and scientific documentation, emphasising the interplay between control and unpredictability in material behaviours.
Wheel thrown and altered Tamborine Mt clay. Fired in Middle Pocket wood kiln October 2026