No fruit bowl is sacred, 2024

My family are dumpers! All those little bits and pieces that spill out of pockets and somehow find their way into the closest receptacle, mostly the fruit bowl. Flowers and fruit often receive all the love when it comes to still lifes, and I am also guilty of making them the heroes. However, the other stuff of life is also beautiful in its mundanity, and the juxtaposition of the two creates magic for me.

Vanessa Holle has been making ceramics since 2011. Her background as a designer influences her ceramic practice. Her business, Vanessa Bean, has focused mainly on functional ware with a twist: objects are given human, animal or botanical personalities, and this work employs a simple, decorative and graphic approach, showcasing whimsy and colour.

Her more recent still-life work on plate forms was inspired by an extended period of time spent at home during cancer treatment. Her world was reduced, and she began to find solace and beauty in the everyday objects surrounding her, exploring these themes with clay as the canvas.

“These are not just everyday objects and moments, on objects we use every day, they are windows into life.”