‘Painting Place’ by Madeleine Thornton-Smith is a community exhibition examining pre-existing hierarchies between paintings and ceramics.
Originally trained as a painter, Thornton-Smith creates ceramic works that imitate traditional elements in fine art, such as canvases, frames, and plinths. Through pressing clay against textured surfaces of local buildings and making moulds of small found objects such as rocks or concrete, the artist attempts to capture a sense of Boroondara. These collected impressions are recreated in a series of ceramic paintings using the process of slip-casting.
Thornton-Smith’s practice aims to challenge traditional beliefs in Western Art History that painting is the highest artform and more valuable than craft-based works like ceramics. In representing one medium by using another, their perceived meaning, value, and symbolism become merged.
Many of these artworks are for sale. Visit our Boroondara Arts shop website to purchase an artwork.
