Mahala Hill: Selected works, 2017-2023
Waste environments. An apocalyptic vision of the new normal.
Spectral growths spawn from contaminated forms, skeletal insects cling to unnatural environments, establishing their new world order within the post-apocalyptic landscape.
Mahala’s sculptures delve into a world post environmental demise. Her works confront the anthropocentric tendencies ingrained in contemporary society, urging viewers to contemplate the environmental impact of human existence.
From fictitious mutated plants to detailed representations of endangered Australian insects the works are grounded in materiality and form, centring around reconstructed Bone China burnouts. A burnout is the remnants after plant matter is coated in clay and incinerated. The residual material is a ghostly, shell-like spectre, simultaneously evoking traces of a life and a loss. The burn outs are inherently inscribed with fragility: the fragments, some under a millimetre thick, are cold white in colour and fluctuate in texture causing variance in translucency. This process of directly creating a brittle clay form from transformed organic matter is a crucial element underpinning Mahala’s exploration of what happens, and what is currently happening in the environment.
Each artwork possesses its own identity, captured through experimental and often unrepeatable glaze surfaces. The use of colours that reference both the natural and artificial speak to the idea of the waste being forced onto the environment and engulfing landscapes. Embracing uncertainty in the final fired objects, Mahala’s method of working with glazes embraces unpredictability, maintaining a raw spontaneity in the finished pieces. Responding to the experimental outcomes is as integral to the artistic process as the experimentation itself, achieving a delicate equilibrium between deliberate intention and uncertainty.
Within her dystopian vision, Mahala subverts the common notion that insects are inconsequential to human life, portraying them as the “soul” survivors of environmental devastation. Rather than adopting a wholly pessimistic outlook, she infuses her work with a glimmer of hope through their resilience. Despite insects’ ability to adapt, the works serve as a call to action, reminding audiences that there may still be time to prevent further species endangerment.
Captions (in alphabetical order)
- Apocalyptic Fracture, 2017, Bone China, ceramic shards, porcelain, glass, glaze, 23 x 17 x 20 cm, Photo by Brenton McGeachie
- Armoured Mist Frog, 2020, Bone China, porcelain, stoneware, volcanic glaze, 8 x 17 x 15 cm
- Blistered, 2021, Bone China, mid fire clay, glaze, 8.4 x 7 x 7 cm, Photo by Alicia Cox
- Chemical Waste, 2017, Bone China, ceramic shards, porcelain, glass, glaze, 30 x 30 x 30 cm, Photo by Brenton McGeachie
- Containment III, 2022, Bone China, Glass, Glaze, Stoneware, Gaffer: Daniel Venables, 10 x 11 x 12 cm, Photo by Alicia Cox
- Containment IV, 2022, Bone China, Glass, Glaze, Stoneware, Gaffer: Daniel Venables, 11 x 11 x 11 cm, Photo by Alicia Cox
- Corrupted Growth I, 2022, Bone China, glaze, black clay, 8.5 x 14 x 8 cm, 2022, Photo by Alicia Cox
- Decimated Landscape detail, 2021, Bone China, mid fire clay, glaze, 16 x 13 x 10 CM, Photo by Alicia Cox
- Decimated Landscape, 2021, Bone China, mid fire clay, glaze, 16 x 13 x 10 CM, Photo by Alicia Cox
- Eldritch Landscape, 2021, Bone China, porcelain, glaze, 18 x 18 x 15 CM, Photo by Alicia Cox
- Melting World, 2021, Bone China, porcelain, glaze, 15.5 x 14 x 12 cm, Photo by Alicia Cox
- Microplastic Wasteland, 2019, Bone China, porcelain, glaze, 12 x 11 x 9 cm, Photo by Alicia Cox
- Mutated Hive II, 2022, Bone China, glass, glaze, porcelain, 12 x 17 x 12 cm, Photo by Alicia Cox
- Plastic Disease I detail, 2022, Bone China, glaze, black clay, 10 x 12 x 7 cm, Photo by Alicia Cox
- Plastic Disease I, 2022, Bone China, glaze, black clay, 10 x 12 x 7 cm, Photo by Alicia Cox
- Plastic Disease IV, 2022, Bone China, glaze, porcelain, 12 x 12 x 10 cm, Photo by Alicia Cox
- Plastic Ooze, 2021, Bone China, porcelain, glaze, 11.5 x 18 x 12 cm, Photo by Alicia Cox
- Spectral Growths I, 2019, Bone China, glass, glaze, Gaffer: Daniel Venables, 16 x 28 x 23 cm, Photo by Alicia Cox
