Ebb & Flow, Triptych by Fran Loudon

White earthenware, green glaze, terracotta terra sigillata

142cm x 44cm

The Ebb and Flow series is a continued exploration of the artist’s connection to the Hunter River. The river ebbs and flows, surges and murmurs, meanders, redirects, recedes, renews. New lines where the Land meets the River and the Sea are constantly being redrawn. In this artwork, the land lines of Newcastle / Muloobinba habour have been rotated and superimposed to create changed coastal and intertidal zones, water courses and land contours.

Fran was born in Muloobinba/Newcastle when it was still a ‘steel city’ and studied industrial chemistry. Now an emerging, third-age, ceramic artist, her works reflect these influences, her love of science and the natural world, and also the rich experience of living and working in other countries for several decades, mostly Ireland and South Africa. When she returned to Australia during the pandemic, the impact of bright light, vast panoramic landscapes and a sense of journey, change and home redefined her practice. Her current works are hand built and sculptural and employ strong geometric lines, often with repeated patterns in juxtaposition to more organic forms and many include wood. Contrasting light and shadow, all-white, textured tiles are key features of her large, wall-mounted works and represent deconstructed and variable perspective landscapes as well as explorations of truth in a post-truth world. Fran is the 2025 Hunter Emerging Art Prize Ceramics Winner.