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Maria Parmenter

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Chris De Rosa, Lesa Farrant, Maria Parmenter

3 -20 June, 2009

Artistic Statement

There is a strange beauty in the ordinary, the everyday and the unspoken rituals that surround the simple poetry that is daily life. My work attempts to highlight this beauty through notions of memory and personal experience, located firmly within the domestic realm. My interest lies in exploring the space between, the connection between ones reality and the unknown. The sense or feeling, the essence, the sentiment that exists somewhere between the familiar and the unfamiliar.
My work alludes to a sense of simplicity and of comfort, particularly emphasised by these strong associations with the domestic sphere. The narrative that surrounds the domestic object becomes an intentionally central theme in the work, positioning the work within the familiar, drawing upon memories and recollections to describe altered versions of reality. Remembered objects are interpreted as intentionally ambiguous approximations of domestic utilitarian items. Reminiscent of a previous time or experience, these hybrid but evocative forms celebrate the imprecise nature of recall and the mutability of memories. Uniquely rendered and grouped to infer an uneasy dialogue, the works emphasise the idea that the recollection of an event or experience will differ for each individual and at each re-telling. It is this unsettling, this altering of reality and expectation that is considered in my work.

Maria Parmenter
More Gentle Reminders, 2008
hand built stoneware
Photo: Grant Hancock

Parmenter completed a Visual Arts degree and honours at the South Australian School of Art in 2005. She majored in ceramics and went on to complete a design associateship at Adelaide's Jamfactory: Contemporary Craft and Design.
Her work explores the narrative of the domestic object and it's potential as a vehicle for housing memories. Initially her work focused on surface treatments and the significance pattern and motif played as symbols of past histories; the evidence of an objects use, of marks and traces of history on an objects surface. More recently her work has explored the space between familiar and unfamiliar, the place of the domestic object and it's function as a trigger of memory and the beauty of the ordinary.
Parmenter has used her personal history to inform her work, moving house frequently as a child and living and travelling extensively overseas has provided a mobile foundation for her memories. This lack of permanency has fostered a desire to investigate attachment to objects, their histories and their significance in individual's memories.
Currently based in a studio at home, Parmenter's practice focuses predominantly on creating work for exhibition, she has exhibited nationally within both contemporary craft and visual art arenas. Most recently she was part of the Craftsouth "Trades" project working alongside an arbourist from Marion Council. The artwork made in response to this collaboration was exhibited at Jamfactory in late 2008. Her work is held in numerous private collections in Australia.

Maria Parmenter
Clutter 1, 2008
hand built stoneware
Photo: Grant Hancock

Maria Parmenter
Clutter 3, 2008
hamd built stoneware
Photo: Grant Hancock

Maria Parmenter
Keepsafe, 2008
handbuilt paperclay, variable dimensions
Photo: Michael Kluvanek.

Maria Parmenter
Keepsafe (pink), 2008
handbuilt paperclay, variable dimensions
Photo: Michael Kluvanek.

Maria Parmenter

EDUCATION and TRAINING

2006 - 7
2005

Design Associate (ceramics), Jamfactory: contemporary craft and design, Adelaide, SA
Bachelor of Visual Arts (ceramics) and Honours (first class), University of South Australia, SA

SELECTED PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Gallery Co-ordinator (part-time), Prospect Gallery, City of Prospect, SA
Artist in residence, South Australian School of Art, University of South Australia, SA
Trades Project, Craftsouth & City of Marion Council, Adelaide, SA
Project Assistant/Members Services Officer, Craftsouth, Adelaide, SA
Artists Business Workshop, AbaF, Adelaide, SA
Making it: Craft as a career, Craft Victoria and Melbourne Museum, Melbourne, VIC
Prue Venables & Jane Sawyer Masterclass, SA School of Art, Adelaide
Converge, National Ceramics Conference, Brisbane, QLD
Sergei Isupov, Steven Dixon & Paul Scott Workshops, Jamfactory & SASA, Adelaide, SA
Planning to succeed, AbaF, Adelaide, SA
Throwing with a difference - Jane Sawyer, Sturt School, Mittagong, NSW.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2008
2007
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artroom5 , Adelaude SA
Accidental souvenirs: gentle reminders, Jamfactory contemporary craft and design, 
Adelaide SA

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2008	
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2007	
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2006	
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2005
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2004

Trades, Jamfactory Contemporary Craft and Design, Adelaide, SA
Ric Rac, Curious Orange, Croydon, SA
Gold Coast International Ceramic Award (selected), Gold Coast Art Gallery, Gold Coast, QLD
Design Now, Arts SA Regional Touring Exhibition, Murray Bridge Gallery and regional SA
Sidney Myer International Ceramic Award (selected), Shepparton, VIC
Department of Premier and Cabinet, State Administration Centre, Adelaide, SA
Cowra Festival Regional Art Award (selected), Cowra, NSW
South Australian Ceramics Award 2007 (selected), Adelaide Central Gallery, SA
South Australian Ceramics, Gulgong, NSW
Coalesce, Studio Barcelona, Adelaide, SA
Italian Art Awards, Italian Centre, Adelaide, SA
South Australian Ceramics, Robyn Bauer Gallery, Paddington, Brisbane, QLD
Craftsouth's Wishlist, Pepper Street Arts Centre, Adelaide, SA
Circle Work, one small room, Croydon, SA
Ideal Worlds, Gaff Studios, Port Adelaide, SA
Crockery, University of South Australia Gallery, Adelaide, SA
Dame Nancy Buttfield Decorative Arts Award, Ayers House, Adelaide, SA
artEast, Adelaide, SA
South Australian Ceramics Award 2005(selected), Adelaide Central Gallery, SA
Bowl'd and Beautiful, Ceramic Art Gallery, Paddington, Sydney.

PUBLIC ART

2006	Little Growths, Associate project of Writing a Painting, 2006 Adelaide Festival of the Arts, Fenn Place, Adelaide.

GRANTS AND AWARDS

Judges Commendation, South Australian Ceramics Award 2007
Helpmann Academy Optus Mentorship recipient (with Angela Valamanesh)
Arts SA Emerging Artist Project Grant recipient
Adelaide Bank Award finalist
Jamboree Ceramics Award, University of South Australia, SA
Mancorp Critics' Choice Award, artEast, Adelaide, SA
Highly commended - Australian Decorative and Fine Arts Society Art Prize, SA
Chancellors Merit Award List, University of South Australia, SA

PUBLICATIONS AND REVIEWS

Allen, L., "Gentle Reminders", Helpmann Academy Update Magazine, Vol.14, #3, Issue 57,p14.
Clifton, C., "Fond Memories", Adelaide Matters, November, p32.
Amodeo, L. 2006, "Emerging", Object Magazine, No 50, pp.28-29
Phillips, S. 2006,"Accidental souvenirs: recent work by Maria Parmenter",The Journal of 
Australian Ceramics, 45# No1
Nunn, L. 2005, "Up next: class of 2005", The Advertiser Review, 12 Nov, pp.8-9
Dutkiewicz, A. 2005, "A new nurture strip", The Advertiser Review, 23 April, p18 
Bowers, S. 2005, 'Enduring Spirit', Ceramics: art and perception, 61, Sep, p83.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT & PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS

Member of Craftsouth & National Assocation of Visual Artists