Art that’s your cup of tea
Samstag’s latest exhibition will change the way you look at the humble teapot.
In the mind of Bruce Nuske, a teapot is never just a teapot. It’s a jaunty pagoda or a delicate vessel encrusted in the press-moulded forms of geranium leaves. Or it’s decorated with thousands of tiny holes that pick out an intricate design of botanicals.
“I’m obsessed with teapots because they symbolise East-West cultural connections but also the history of the teapot is a panorama of changing styles and designs,” says the Adelaide/Tarntanya-based artist, who’s been making ceramics for 50 years.
Nuske’s eponymous exhibition is showing at Samstag Museum of Art as part of this year’s Adelaide Festival. The showcase includes 50 works, 35 of which are teapots with single tea bowls – a nod to the many cups he had alone during the pandemic.
“In that context, the teapot becomes a vehicle for reflection and contemplation during a time of isolation,” he says. “Traditionally, teapots were small because tea was precious and I like to retain that quality.”
Nuske’s eclectic approach sees each teapot and cup embrace a complex technical process that furnishes it in astonishing detail.
“I don’t use glazes much so it’s more about exploiting the colour of the clay and surface decoration, such as making press moulds or pricking holes.”
Helping Nuske format the exhibition space is Adelaide designer and friend Khai Liew.
“We’ve made furniture together over the years and have great respect for each other’s work,” says Nuske. “Khai also understands my fascination with historical design.”
Liew aims to highlight Nuske’s work through references to 19th-century Japonisme – the European trend for Japanese art and design – by crafting three standalone shelving units that reference famous designer Edward Godwin’s Victorian-Japanese sideboards.
Samstag is staging two additional exhibitions during the Adelaide Festival, both of which comprise moving-image installations. Australian-born and Lisbonbased artist James Newitt’s Haven explores island utopias and the people who establish them. And British artist Emily Wardill’s Night for Day uses choreography and mirroring to ask questions about our bodies and the convergence of the organic and the technological.
Samstag’s exhibitions run 3 March to 19 May 2023, Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm. Adelaide Festival, 3 to 19 March 2023, 10am to 5pm daily. unisa.edu.au/samstag