Hive Resonance, 2024

Hive Resonance explores community and order through the natural architecture and form of a hive. Its organic and organised structure symbolises the harmony, cooperation and interdependence in apiary societies, while making comment on the possibility for a more harmonious and interconnected human society.

Donalee Moriarty is an Australian ceramic artist whose sculpture combines elements of architectural design with unpredictable surface treatments.

“I am fortunate that my practice requires slow making and multiple firings, which allow time to fully experience the creation of each piece before they fly free into the world.”

Moriarty works from her studio in Ipswich, Queensland, using clay slabs, coils and wheel thrown components that are subsequently assembled. Her sculptures are carefully planned and designed as formal and architectural structures, and are then fired multiple times in saggars and a gas kiln to achieve a depth of surface texture. It is this incongruence of the structured form and volatility of surface treatment that intrigues her.

Her practice is also centred on a passion for experimentation and testing the various techniques of making in clay, the use of locally sourced materials, and a range of firing processes.

Moriarty’s hand-built sculptures are inspired by the connection between architecture and nature. This tension is evident in her structured and symmetrical handmade forms, and the unpredictable nature of her surface treatments.

The preference for slow making is a personal choice to allow her time to engage with the work, but is also necessary to accommodate the material requirements for the many joined elements that create the final forms. These forms reflect the built environment she lives in.

The textures of Moriarty’s work are rendered through the volatile results of layering glazes, engobes and oxides. Glazing and firing processes are often repeated until the optimum depth and complexity of surface is achieved. Her goal is for unpredictable and disrupted surfaces, which act as a metaphor for the complexity of human impacts on the natural world.

Moriarty has been selected as a finalist in the North Queensland Ceramics Awards in 2022 and the Siliceous Award for Ceramic Excellence in 2023. Her work has been acquired by the Museum of Brisbane.