Prue Venables is renowned for her fine porcelain work with compelling conceptual twists. After graduating with Honours in zoology from the University of Melbourne (1974), she moved to London to study classical flute. It was during this period, in 1977, that she first encountered clay and discovered her lifelong vocation. She undertook a Diploma of Studio Pottery at Harrow College of Art, London (1983) and, after returning to Australia, a Master of Fine Art, Ceramics from Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (1995).

From the beginning of her practice, P. Venables has been fascinated with functional objects that, as she says, are at the core of life: “The holding, turning, using and celebration of [a beautiful pot] brings such joy and warmth of human connection”. Her ceramics are imbued with this wonder at simple things. She takes inspiration from domestic vessels and familiar implements but transforms them through her experimental processes, elegant aesthetics and ethical commitment to quietness and simplicity. As fellow ceramic artist Gwyn Hanssen Pigott (1935–2013) has written, Venables’ work “artfully combines stillness and a sense of risk, of fragility. Sometimes it is a single object – a pierced ladle with a precariously long stem, perhaps, or a scoop with an elegant, daring, ribbon-like handle, that surprises and then calms”. But P. Venables’ sculptural prowess lies not only in her beautifully crafted objects. It is also in the way she enhances those objects through placements that produce fresh rhythms and spatial interactions, inspired in part by music.

P. Venables’ works resemble familiar functional objects, but they are creatively altered – at times with the addition of metal and wood to the original porcelain – to evoke a much broader range of associations. This can be seen in Betty’s Kitchen (2017), which consists of a series of cast and thrown porcelain pieces threaded with silver, copper, thread and bristles. What at first looks like an array of kitchen implements ready to be picked up for practical use gradually transforms into a set of beguiling forms which in turn make us wonder at the beauty of those everyday tools we take for granted. Similarly, in Esme’s Dressing Table (2017), those companions of daily self-care rituals are rendered gently strange but also weighty, imbued with the gravitas of artistic attention. P. Venables is a master of her craft such that her works exude the intelligence and commitment of her processes of making, which entail endless experimentation and research. As she says, “Science and music taught me that there is no end point – just ongoing exploration” (All quotes from the artist’s website, accessed April 2024).

P. Venables has received national and international awards, including becoming a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, UK (2003); being named as Australian Design Centre’s 9th “Living Treasure – Master of Australian Craft” (2018); being a finalist in the Korean International Ceramic Biennale (2019); and receiving the Loewe Craft prize (Noguchi Museum, New York, 2023). Her work is held in the collections of the National Gallery of Australia; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; and the FuLe International Ceramic Art Museum (FLICA) Weinan, China. She is also a distinguished arts writer and educator, having mentored and taught generations of ceramicists.