Ebony Russell

Porcelain maker

An art inspired by sugar sculpting

Ebony’s work is influenced by feminine crafts
She constructs her art using porcelain piping
Her work consists of “decoration as architecture”

Ebony Russell began studying art in the early 2000s. Needing more stability than art could provide, she began a career as a high school art teacher. After 15 years, she returned to university in 2018 to re-launch her art practice, flipping her career “from a teacher who wanted to be an artist, to an artist who also teaches.” She now works in her studio daily, while also lecturing at Sydney’s lauded National Art School. Ebony was raised in a Catholic Maltese-Dutch household. The ornaments that adorned her home, such as princesses, Delft pottery, and “very kitsch” Australian objects, twinned with church decorations greatly influenced her style. She is also inspired by feminine crafts that were diminished and erased from the 20th century fine arts canon.

Interview

Which techniques are specific to your craft?: My interest in icing and porcelain and their connection began in the early 2000s. It is a technique that I have been working on ever since. When I returned full time to studies to do my Master's, I was able to research and develop that process and technique.
How did you develop your unique style?: When somebody makes a vase in the usual way, they might make it at the wheel or by coiling. I must not touch my work when I am making it because I would damage the decoration. It has taken years of experimenting and developing to learn how to get clay and porcelain to work in this manner.
How does your work link to historic crafts?: In the 17th century, sugar was the height of sculptural mediums. As sugar diminished in price, the artists who made sugar sculptures moved to porcelain. This little known history connects with my ideas, which helps me talk about my work.
What do people not realise about your work?: Most people assume that there is something underneath that the decoration is being applied to, but there is not. In some of my vases, there are holes so you can see that the decoration is on the inside, too. This surprises people, because decoration is not thought of as something that is strong enough to build a form.

Ebony Russell is a rising star: she began her career in 2018 and she started teaching in 2018