By Nicole Steenhof
“For lovers of strongly made, deeply felt and beautifully realised works of craft, there are few better experiences than to step into the mega-sized ceramic vessels by Warrick Palmateer. The work is almost visceral in its capacity to excite awe. You can feel the vast currents of the Indian Ocean flowing through the elastic forms imprinting on the clay of Western Australia. Palmateer is a master potter who imbues his work with a no-nonsense sense of purpose.”
– Jude van der Merwe, Founding Partner, Co-curator IOTA21-24
In early August 2024, I sat down with Warrick Palmateer and Lee Jessamine to discuss their new exhibition Leeuwin Current as part of IOTA24. They had just finished the final details on the install and generously shared a few moments. We spoke about the littoral zone (which is a foundational inspiration to Warrick’s ceramics practice), the journey through ceramics, and regional connections through craft. My first question I addressed to Lee, who created a film projected into the gallery wall alongside Warrick’s large ceramic vessels.
Nicole: This exhibition is called Leeuwin Current – how does your film engage with the title?
Lee: So I guess the work interacts with the Leeuwin Current because the whole film is shot along the coastline, encapsulating being caught in the current, so that someone who is watching the film would have the feeling of being in the current, of being in this loop and experiencing all the little things that the current affects as well – the moods and the different feelings that we get along the WA coast – different weather patterns, waves, swells.
Warrick: All the film that Lee has shot has been from him swimming actually, there are a couple of drone shots but predominantly he’s actually in that littoral zone.
N: What does the littoral zone mean to you?
W: I define the littoral zone as the space where the waves break to where the first dune is. That space is always transient and always moving, and that’s where Lee has put himself to shoot the whole film.
We talked about it even before we began… this idea of the perspective of being in the littoral zone, in the Leeuwin Current, and looking back to the shore. Most of the stuff that you do see of the ocean is from the land looking out to the sea whereas this is more of a surfers’ or swimmers’ perspective from that zone.
L: A lot of the shots are very movement orientated to match the current in it as well. Every shot has water movement and not really any solid stable shots to mimic the water movement. Always movement, always water movement.
N: What are you hoping people who see your work might feel from your work?
L: I hope they get the feeling of being in a current, that time does kind of sit still. If you were going for a surf, you might be sitting in the water for five hours but it doesn’t feel that long, but you are just sitting there waiting constantly looking and just watching everything. The soundtrack we have as well is sort of the same vibe to get you stuck in that [absence of time].
W: The soundtrack is really interesting because it’s made by a musician called Bailey Thompson and he’s a good friend of Lee’s, he’s created original music for this exhibition and for this film. It matches the feeling of being in that meditative, transient space. Trying to get the sync between the ceramic forms, the movement on the forms, the movement in the film, and the movement in the sound as well.
N: Warrick, with over 40 years working with clay – are you still learning new things about the process? Making new discoveries or solving new problems?
W: Honestly, in most things that you pursue in life – and for me it’s been a ceramic journey, a surfing journey – it’s always been influenced by the ocean in lots of different facets of my life but I think you are always learning, no matter what you are doing, no matter how much experience you have. I’ve been working with clay since I’ve been 15, so for 40 years now, and through this exhibition I’ve learnt a lot about the process. I’ve got a new studio and a new kiln and I’ve had to develop some new skills, new ways of thinking about things. The glazes I’ve been working with I’ve had to reformulate a little bit because the materials have changed a bit since I’ve been working with them previously.
With ceramics it’s like you think you’re on top of it a little bit, like you have a good grasp on it but it can always happen that you sit back down on your bum and think ‘shit ok, what happened there’. With ceramics I can definitely say – there’s clays, there’s kilns, there’s so many variables, so many things can go wrong easily, so you always have to be on top of it and you are always learning new things. And surfing is the same, I’m still learning how to surf even though I’ve been surfing for longer than I’ve been making forms!
I’m pretty happy sitting in this space right now though, I must say.
N: It looks incredible and your works have such a presence to them.
W: Yeah I think it has come up pretty good actually, yeah I like it. The work has got a harmony to it because of the colour scheme but it’s also got differentiation and contrast between the pieces as well but they do sit together nicely. I’ve really tried to capture that current, that movement across them so hopefully people engage with them in that sort of way, that’s what I’ve intended, but whatever people see in them is what they see in them.
N: IOTA is a celebration of contemporary craft coming from many Indian Ocean region countries. What do you think about the organising of interest around a shared ocean space?
W: It’s amazing really. Realistically Australia doesn’t seem to have a lot of connection – geographically we are connected but artistically we don’t do enough to connect with the region and IOTA is ground breaking to be able to do that.
I went to the John Curtin Gallery a couple of weeks ago when they had the launch of IOTA and I met a lot of the artists who were exhibiting there from India, Indonesia, South Africa, and it was just cool because we all have that common space, that connection between us all, the Indian Ocean, that’s drawn us all together through the IOTA conference and the group of exhibitions that Jude and Carola and their team have put together. And it’s nice that it’s not on the east coast, it’s here, it’s in WA, and I think it’s only going to get stronger because Indonesia, India, East coast of Africa, they are our neighbours and we have to know our neighbours.
N: It’s great that you’re united by the region: by the idea of place, the Indian Ocean; but also as artisans, everyone is really incredible at their craft.
W: Yeah, and you can see the inspiration of living in that space in all the different artists’ work, the contrast is so different and it’s amazing. It’s just incredible and should be celebrated how much we all draw from the region (Indian Ocean), and yet there’s so much diversity, so many different approaches, ways of working with textiles, ceramics, wood – it’s just incredible.
N: And all those materials speak to the regions where the artists are from.
W: Exactly.
N: Is your clay WA clay?
W: All of it is WA clay. These materials come from the Perth Hills. I source it through Midland Brick, it’s really amazing they actually sponsor me for clay. They are unreal to deal with so I’m really lucky to have them on board. It’s the third exhibition that I’ve worked with their materials. I did a residency up there quite a few years ago and I got to know a lot of that crew and since then I’ve kept that relationship and have been able to maintain that connection to their materials in my work. It’s important to my work and the way I think about the work as well is that its connected to the actual land as well as the ocean of South West Western Australia.
N: Thank you very much for meeting me today and answering my questions!
Warrick Palmateer: Leeuwin Current ran at Rockingham Arts Centre 17 August to 8 September 2024, as part of IOTA24.
Nicole Steenhof is a visual artist currently working with painting and sculpture based in Boorloo, Perth.