Barbara Campbell-Allen OAM

Esteemed as one of the most original and important ceramicists of her generation, Campbell Allen was awarded an Order of Australia for services to the creative arts as a potter and ceramicist. Trained at the National Art School (Sydney) and the Gippsland Centre for Design and Art, she has innovated a wood fired kiln technique producing works that are elemental, painterly and intensely sculptural. Utilising paper clay, a blend of paper fibre and clay enables her to create works of unique form, texture and depth of surface. An element of expedition influences her works, journeying into the Australian landscape for research and sometimes for specific materials. To engage her aesthetic is to see that geology has a soul, the earth has a memory and that natural materials have both tactile and sensory power. Hers is work that is profoundly linear and visceral. Scars, remnants and the raked lines of the artist’s hand harness a rough-hewn beauty in her stoneware, evoking the raw power of silent ancient places. Manly Regional Gallery and Newcastle Regional Gallery purchased sculptures, two consecutive years running. The Powerhouse Museum exhibited three of her larger works as part of the Clay Dynasty exhibition from 2021 - 2023. Her work is collected locally and throughout the world.