MYTHS, MURDERS & OTHER MISADVENTURES

Myths, Murders & Other Misadventures, Inga Walton, THE JOURNAL OF AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS APRIL 2017, Vol 56, No 1
The Works of Stephen Bird by Inga Walton
Since emigrating to Australia from Scotland in 2007, Stephen Bird has garnered considerable renown
for his audacious and topical ceramic works, with their strong narrative content and pithy socio-political
references.
Whether free-standing sculptures, vessels, or plates, Bird’s consistent focus on the figure and its
various permutations imbues his works with an immediacy that both engages and provokes viewers. “I
think clay connects people with a primordial past, before ‘the fall’ and man’s alienation from nature,”
Bird muses. “I see humanity as being very primitive really (just look at recent events in America) with
this veneer of sophistication. I don’t want my art to hide behind a veneer; I want it to be a bit scary and
make people unsure of what they are really seeing.”