CREATIVE PROFILE

The Nature of
Art & Wellbeing
with Shari Lowndes

MELBOURNE, APRIL 2021

For Australian artist and designer Shari Lowndes, of SZILVASSY — inspiration comes from nature.

When Amodern Alchemy is in Australia, we are always lucky enough to stay with Shari in her home in Carlton, Melbourne. While we were there earlier this year, we sat down with her to talk about her methods and tools for wellbeing, and where she draws inspiration from for her ceramics practice.

I am an Australian born female artist, with Italian, French, Portuguese, Austrian, Greek, Egyptian lineage. Working predominantly with clay, I am interested in embedding narratives of land, heritage and environmental subject matter into my works.

I am blessed to have grown up surrounded by Australia’s rainforests and remained close to this natural habitat throughout my teenage years. At the time I realised it’s beauty and influence, but moreso now as I apply myself to my art practice. When l commenced at SOCA (School of Clay and Art) in 2015, I then discovered my love for clay. I was fortunate to study under Shane Kent, an artist and philosopher who has a certain depth I have rarely been exposed to. What started as a casual pottery class once a week, evolved into an intensive education. I was lucky enough to be offered a scholarship with them. My time at SOCA, over the period of 5 years, formed intrinsic skills and insights I apply to my daily art practice. Interwoven through my work are undertones of my mixed heritage, but foremost is the relationship with nature.

In the mornings I prefer not to abide to a set routine as I find I need to be more intuitive of where I am at on that particular day. Having said this there are a handful of rituals I enjoy; morning walks with Luna (our pup) and my partner in our local gardens, coffee from a local Japanese cafe, and yoga. Throughout the day I often blend different herbal teas dependent on my energy levels, and the properties of different herbs I want to harness.