Jaded But Joyful — Em Frank

JADED BUT JOYFUL

2024

ATELIER ANTIFRAGILE
Adelaide

I love making mugs. They were the first objects I learned to make out of clay and they are what I come back to when I’m not sure where to go next.

We spend a lot of time in the company of mugs in this life. They bookend our days and are often at the center of our most intimate conversations. They are quiet observers.

They are also usually the only works I can afford by the ceramicists I love.

These mugs have been formed by wheel throwing, coil building and pinching clay. Some are painted with underglaze and lustre, others are inlaid with iron oxide. They have each been glazed and fired at least twice, with the lustre process requiring a third firing. I have used both oxidation and reduction firing atmospheres.

Jaded but Joyful is a collection of silly and serious reflections on my everyday life. Observations of the sad, the painful, the absurd and the delightful. It's about the experience of feeling cynical and weary from the pain of being human, yet remaining in awe of the beauty and generosity that exists despite this. The persistence of friendship, community, and random acts of kindness in the face of a system that would see these things crumble.

Photos by Connor Patterson

Living and labouring on Kaurna Yarta

@em___frank