SARAH RAYNER

Music by Agustin Barrios Mangore interpreted by Edson Lopes

SARAH RAYNER

ARTIST

Wootha, QLD, Australia

First, there is a bumpy road surrounded by bushland. We’re in Wootha, Jinibara Country, in Australia’s Sunshine Coast Hinterland. Then a house, cute as a button, with a wooden veranda. There is a bench covered in a colourful crocheted granny-square blanket. When you sit there, your tea smoking on the small table, you can see a spectacle orchestrated by birds, gliders, and trees. Read More

Photos I took that day…

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Birds plunge from high up into a special bath that Sarah and Jeff have placed in that magnificent theatre stage that is their garden. One after the other, as if waiting in line like acrobats from Cirque du Soleil, in they go, landing on branches and stones cleverly placed in the water to make it safe. Soaked feathers are ruffled in the sunshine, creating a light show. Wooden boxes with a tiny round window, looking like mini houses are attached midway up the tall tree trunks to host gliders. Jeff goes up a ladder to take a photo of babies having a nap to show me. Too late, I’ve fallen in love with this place.

Artist Sarah Rayner lives in this paradise with her husband Jeff who is a bush ranger. The have a profound connection to nature. The land around them is a 50-acre protected bush block they care for with great love and respect. Sarah goes on a treasure hunt every morning, picking up seeds, flowers, and pods. Later she places them under her magnifying glass and draws an upscaled version which she translates into a 3D porcelain version.

What fascinates her especially is the “lovemaking of plants”. She recreates a giant version of their reproductive organs, interpreting their shapes and textures on smooth white porcelain. To keep hollow parts in shape she stuffs them with paper which will be obliterated in the kiln.

Very generously, she shares with me, in the interview below, her passion, her process and her story.

Connect with Artist

@sarah.rayner | sarahrayner.com.au

INTERVIEW

My name is Sarah … I have always liked my name.
Mum always told me it meant princess….I’ve never thought of myself as a princess though.
I was born in the UK, in Chesham, Buckinghamshire and came to Australia when I was 4 years old. Australia is very much home for me. I have mostly lived in Southeast Queensland and now live and work in Wootha, Gubi Gubi country, on the Sunshine Coast hinterland.
I reside with my husband Jeff on a 50acre protected bush block, surrounded by bird’s, wild animals and native trees. We strive to live as sustainably as possible and have a big love and respect for the natural environment.
Our house is completely solar powered; we have our own water tanks, large vegetable patch and fruit trees. I get a great deal of joy spending time in the garden watching things grow and change. I feel incredibly lucky to live where we do and to have the opportunity to closely observe plants, insects, birds and animals in their ongoing cycle of reproduction and survival. It’s a truly humbling experience.
We speak English, I can only speak English but wish I had learnt another language.
My principal work now is as a professional artist.
As an artist I respond directly to my immediate environment, my interior and exterior spaces. I’m surrounded by bushland and spend a lot of time in the garden and bushwalking… observing, drawing and collecting.
My interest lies in the tiny and seemingly insignificant details of the forest. A micro view of seedpods and flowers, which leads to a fascinating world of intricate and complex organisms, the understated and overlooked in hidden spaces and places. I like to scrutinise these amazing little structures examining the form, textures, cracks and crevices and the way layers peel back to reveal sensuous interiors which cradle precious seed.
Yet my interior surrounding also have a big impact on my practice. I am a collector of many things (discussed below) and feel this is an important aspect of my practice. In the physical making of my work I use porcelain to translate my observations, creating sculptural collections of objects, underpinned by an interest in museology, collecting and investigations of the natural world.
Fiona Hall “Paradisus Terestris”
This is a favourite artwork for me for so many reasons. The use of material (sardine tins) references to flora, the conceptual underpinnings of the work, the impact as an installation and the juxtaposition of the “human body and native flora to imply a collision between Culture and Nature”.
Yes!!! it’s all I ever wanted to be. I grew up in a really creative household, my mum was an artist and there was always lots of making going on at our home. I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t making something with my hands.
Making my work whilst listening to audio books. It’s a slow mediative process and the hours and days just disappear!
This is a difficult question to answer as I feel that building your arts practice happens over many years and is accumulative. Lots of small breaks eventually lead to one bigger one.
I have worked with various materials and had a long career within the arts spanning over 30 years, yet my most recent break was being introduced to porcelain around 8yrs ago by ceramic artist Shannon Garson. I would visit Shannon’s studio weekly where she generously shared many techniques and skills with me. Now I work in my own studio but still visit Shannon weekly for delicious lunches and lively, inspiring discussions about art and life.
In the last 4 years I have been lucky enough to work with a Sydney gallery agent Sally Dan Cuthbert and working with Sally has projected my career into a professional practice. Sally discovered my work through social media and came for a studio visit 5 years ago.
Family, trust and respect.
Oh dear where do I begin!! Many seedpods to start with …
I am a collector of many things (as is my husband) and our home is filled with objects.
Mostly 1940’s/50; s Australian ceramic ware, wall vases, glasses, haberdashery items such as buttons and buckles, vintage fabrics…. but also, bones, artworks and found objects of interest.
This interior space has a huge influence on my arts practice. I arrange our collection continually changing pieces around and playing with their relationship to one another creating new dialogues. I have a fascination with the aesthetics of museums and the way objects are displayed and categorized. How butterflies, beetles and plant specimens are pinned and labelled and how as humans we collect and organise objects in order to understand the natural world. (I would like to note that historically the museum was a place which epitomised our desire to have control over and order the natural world with the collecting of cultural artefacts, flora and fauna being a contentious issue).
My personal style and aesthetic are reflected in all that I do. The way I present myself to the world, my interior and exterior spaces and my art practice are all integrated inseparable…. they are all part of who I am.
I honestly can’t answer that in terms of one thing. I have so many little special objects and I treasure them all! I guess in that sense our home…filled with all our collections and surrounded by bushland. I don’t like to think of myself possessing these things as much as living amongst them in this moment.
I love food and I love growing veggies; a beautiful salad is always high on my list and anything Ottolenghi style.
Tinman or A Year of Marvellous Ways by Sarah Winman.
Have to admit these are old favourites that I have re-read a few times now.
Sex education
Ahhh …. We have a huge collection of vinyl and I listen to so many different genera’s of music. It changes weekly. Just now I’m loving a bit of Slowthai and an old favourite Hunky Dory by David Bowie.
This is hard one as well…. Whilst I use clay at the moment my craft is more sculpturally based. Bronwyn Oliver would have to be one of my favourite Australian sculptors and a master of her craft.
Hannah Gartside, an amazing young Australian artist using fabric in wonderful
Right here!! I love where I live.