VISITORS will have the opportunity to gain a deeper insight into the Mud Lyric exhibition at Swan Hill Regional Art Gallery through an artists’ talk next month.
Art gallery director Ian Tully said Yarrein Mud Lyric was successfully launched in February, and the artists’ talk would complement a “remarkable” exhibition.
“The event will offer attendees an insightful journey into the inspiration behind the ceramics of potter Liz Maddy and the poetry of her friend and neighbour, Verity Oswin,” Mr Tully said.
Mr Tully said the talk would delve into the rich background of the friendship and how the collaboration came to life to create the Yarrein Mud Lyric exhibition.
“The Oswin and Maddy families, friends for over 45 years, live on neighbouring farms in the district,” he said.
The two decided to collaborate after COVID-19 lockdowns when Oswin moved back to Mallan and felt inspired by the raw nature of Maddy’s handmade pots to write poems.
“In 2020, after living abroad for many years, Verity returned home to the district in the pandemic and a series of pit firings the two neighbours undertook together during 2022 and 2023 became the catalyst for this artistic collaboration,” Mr Tully said.
“I’ve always really admired Liz’s pots since I was a child,” Oswin recently told The Guardian.
Maddy’s ceramic creations are pit-fired on her farm on Yarrein Creek — something she said she loved due to the unpredictable nature of the creation process, or what she called “pot luck”.
Oswin recalled of Maddy’s early attempts: “They were very experimental and most of the pots exploded.”
Unlike many artists, Maddy refuses to have a vision to create her art but leaves it up to Mother Nature to control the end result, which reflects the pallet of the landscape.
The exhibition is also a deep reflection of the land Maddy and Oswin inhabit and explores their nuanced relationship with the land as settlers.
“It’s setting up a dialogue to talk about our relationship with the land, even though it’s a very complex one,” Oswin said.
“It won’t be solved by not talking about it and articulating how we feel — even articulating how beautiful we find the land as well.”
The free talk is on Saturday April 6 at 2pm.
The exhibition runs until Sunday April 14.
