Feature... Talent Factory
JamFactory’s Associate program attracts outstanding emerging artists and designers from across Australia and around the world aiming to forge careers in ceramics, glass, furniture or jewellery. The program acts as a professional development accelerator and to mark his tenth anniversary as JamFactory’s CEO, Brian Parkes shares the stories of ten diverse alumni from the past ten years.
Words by Brian Parkes.
Photos courtesy of the artists.
Susan Frost
Ceramics Studio 2009-10
Susan Frost has established a successful studio practice specialising in wheel-thrown minimalist porcelain forms with subtle gradations of colour and tone. She has completed several significant corporate commissions, received prestigious grants and last year undertook a four-month residency at BKLYN CLAY in New York. In March this year she returned to JamFactory to take up a new part-time role as Public Programs Manager in the Ceramics Studio.
Frost says, ‘I would not be the maker I am today without having done the Associate Program. It was a validating experience where I was amongst professionals, both peers and mentors and this put me in the mindset to truly push myself to develop my practice. I took the opportunity to learn as much as I could from the many skilled makers who worked or visited JamFactory but the most important connection for me was meeting and working with Kirsten Coelho. Kirsten has become a valued friend and mentor from whom I continue to learn and seek advice.’
Andrew Bartlett
Furniture Studio 2009-10
Andrew Bartlett runs a design and making practice in Edwardstown, undertaking private commissions and small batch production. He combines traditional joinery skills with a modernist aesthetic to create unique and bespoke pieces for discerning clients, including premium wineries such as Penfolds, Taylors and Jacobs Creek. He came to furniture making following a significant career in the defence force and it was the JamFactory Associate Program that brought him to Adelaide where he has remained since.
For Bartlett it was the combination of the ‘facility’ and the ‘people’ that helped him establish his direction – not just within the furniture studio but across the organisation including the shop and the gallery. He notes that the opportunity to exhibit at JamFactory while in the program was, ‘the introduction to an audience for my work, my style and a standard of finish I aimed for. Soon after I received my first commissions and ever since I have had a full schedule of work – primarily from return customers, fellow artists and referrals.’
Kristel Britcher
Glass Studio 2010-11
Kristel Britcher’s journey from UniSA graduate to Head of JamFactory’s Glass Studio over the past decade has been an inspiration. Her broad glass practice encompasses product design and one-off art pieces that deftly combine her interests in the ‘hot’ techniques of glassblowing and the ‘cold’ techniques of glass cutting and polishing. Since completing the Associate Program she has secured grants through Arts SA and the Australia Council and undertaken more than half a dozen interstate and international residencies including stints in Scotland, the Netherlands, Italy and the Czech Republic.
For Britcher, the most rewarding experience as an Associate was, ‘becoming part of the extraordinary glass community here in Adelaide. Being relatively new to the field, it was a great privilege to work alongside, and receive so much encouragement from, professional makers in my earlier years.’ Britcher is now passionate mentor for a new generation of glass artists and is currently creating work for a solo exhibition in Gallery Two at JamFactory in December.
Ulrica Trulsson
Ceramics Studio 2012-13
Swedish-born Ulrica Trulsson came to Adelaide from Victoria for the Associate Program. Her practice is focussed on developing work for exhibitions. Her exquisite wheel-thrown pieces evoke her Scandinavian heritage and reference subtle details within the Australian landscape. Based in Brisbane since 2017, she is now represented by Skepsi Gallery in Melbourne, Beaver Galleries in Canberra and Sabbia Gallery in Sydney, where she recently had her fourth successful solo exhibition. Her first solo show was in Gallery Two at JamFactory in 2015.
She says of her time at JamFactory that, ‘being surrounded, day to day, by the tenants, staff, other Associates and mentors was invaluable. Being part of that community, exposed to so much collective knowledge pushed my work forwards and helped shape the early years of my practice.’ A highlight of her time as an Associate was winning the Drink Dine Design Emerging Designer Award, which gave her a strong positive affirmation of the direction she was developing for her work.
Diego Vides Borrell
Glass studio 2013-14
Diego Vides Borrell came to JamFactory from Mexico. Since returning home he has established a successful glass studio there, based on what he learned in Adelaide. Other JamFactory alumni have visited, including Tim Edwards, Liam Fleming and Marcel Hoogstad Hay who each helped set up some of the equipment. The studio produces in-house designed products including custom lighting and tableware; manufactures items for other artists, architects and designers; and holds classes for university students and private individuals.
While in Adelaide Vides Borrell was impressed by the high level of skill and the intensity of the training. ‘I was learning new techniques daily and was inspired by watching all the different styles of glass-blowing and the varied aesthetics.’ He was deeply influenced by conversations about, ‘how we understand production based on our context, and how we can do more than progress our individual careers, to make something unique and helpful for more people. How we can grow as designers and makers, to aim for more ambitious projects and reach wider audiences.’
Matt Pearson
Furniture Studio 2015-16
Matt Pearson maintains a busy practice designing and making limited-run and bespoke furniture and objects. He moved from Tasmania to Adelaide to undertake the Associate Program. After two additional years as a tenant at JamFactory, he then established his own studio – initially in Hendon and more recently in Somerton Park – where he works full-time and engages other makers. His objective with furniture is to, ‘create objects to be woven into the fabric of the family home – objects that become a living, breathing part of the family.’ His work has featured in design and lifestyle magazines and important national showcase events for emerging designers such as Workshopped, VIVID and Denfair.
Pearson’s time at JamFactory provided him with valuable experiences and opportunities. He was able to develop production work for retail outlets, one-off pieces for exhibitions and assist with several large-scale corporate commissions through the JamFactory Furniture Studio. He was also able to develop important networks with future clients, collaborators, subcontractors and suppliers.
Zoe Grigoris
Jewellery and Metal Studio 2015-16
Zoe Grigoris secured a studio space at JamFactory after completing the Associate Program and continues to be a great contributor to the JamFactory community as a tenant. Her contemporary jewellery work is informed by illustration. She uses mark-making techniques to replicate her detailed patterns and floral motifs in precious metal. She gained a Bachelor of Arts from Flinders University and a Bachelor of Visual Arts (specialising in Jewellery and Metal) from UniSA before arriving at JamFactory.
She has established a successful commission-based stream to her practice, working closely with private clients, most often on the design and making of precious rings – further developing her skills as a fine jewellery maker. She has also exhibited widely in Australia and her production ranges are stocked in several galleries and shops across the country. For Grigoris, the most valuable thing about JamFactory is the community, ‘the opportunity to learn from a broad spectrum of makers, designers and business people … the support of my colleagues cheering me on.’
Jake Rollins
Furniture Studio 2016-17
Jake Rollins is a South Australian designer and maker, currently living and working in the Adelaide Hills. His highly experimental work challenges our thinking about material use, reuse and sustainability and he has developed innovative making methods that are informed by the reclaimed waste materials he sources – such as the discarded golf balls he has used in several recent projects. He is represented in Australia by Gallery Sally Dan Cuthbert, Sydney and his work will be shown at Gallery Rossana Orlandi in Milan in October as a finalist in the coveted Guiltless Plastic Prize.
Thanks to the generosity of William Boyle – one of JamFactory’s Medici Collective donors – Rollins was given the opportunity to travel to France in 2017 to undertake a series of workshops with several internationally acclaimed designers at Domaine de Boisbuchet. This experience unleased a new direction in his practice and the major work he produced on his return was acquired by the Art Gallery of South Australia.
Danielle Lo
Jewellery and Metal Studio 2017-18
Danielle Lo completed an Advanced Diploma in Jewellery and Objects at Enmore Design Centre and a Bachelor of Visual Arts majoring in Jewellery and Object at Sydney College of Arts prior to arriving at JamFactory in 2017. Her contemporary jewellery practice focuses on emulating forms from nature and draws on theories of Zen. She predominately works in silver, gold and enamel – a glass powder that can be fused to metal surfaces using traditional silversmithing techniques.
After three years in Adelaide, Danielle returned to Sydney last summer. She has developed a small collection of handmade jewellery, which is stocked in various locations around Australia and she continues to undertake bespoke commissions and teach jewellery workshops. Following her Associateship Danielle was successful in securing funding from the Australia Council and Arts SA to travel to the United Kingdom in 2019 to complete mentorships with revered jewellers and metalsmiths, Junko Mori, Kayo Saito and Malcolm Appleby over the course of three inspiring months.
Ebony Heidenreich
Ceramics Studio 2017-18
Ebony Heidenreich recently established her own independent ceramics studio just off Magill Road in Maylands. She came into the JamFactory Associate Program interested in production pottery but has since established a strongly design-led practice producing furniture, lighting, vessels and architectural hardware through a variety of ceramic techniques. She regularly collaborates with Handmade and Found, an innovative company set up by Saul Scanlon (another JamFactory alumnus) to provide bespoke, crafts-based products and services to the interior design and architecture sector. Her work has featured regularly in Australian design blogs and magazines and has been acquired by public collections including the Shepparton Art Museum and the National Gallery of Victoria.
Heidenreich has referred to her time at JamFactory as, ‘an invaluable season of professional development and experimentation.’ She notes that, ‘having experienced and established mentors, who were generous with their support and knowledge, helped position me within the industry where I now successfully work.’
