A Shared Sensitivity, 2021, Juz Kitson
Porcelain, stoneware, enamel, steel, timber, 13 x 60 x 60cm
Provenance: Dominic Mersche Gallery, Sydney NSW
Exhibited: Sydney Contemporary Art Fair, 2021
Sydney-born sculptor Juz Kitson, had until the pandemic divided her time between the South Coast of Australia and Jingdezhen, the ‘porcelain capital’ of China. While completing Honours in ceramics at the National Art School, Kitson’s ‘Formations of Silence’ was acquired by David Walsh for his Museum of Old and New Art in Tasmania. Featured in The Museum of Contemporary Art’s Primavera 2013 and Art Dubai 2014, she was also recently included in the Adelaide Biennial 2016. She has been a finalist in numerous major prizes including the Sidney Myer Fund Australian Ceramic Award (2019), The Alice Prize (2018) and the Wynne Prize (2017). Kitson’s work is held in public collections, including the National Gallery of Australia, Art Gallery of South Australia, Artbank and RMIT University, as well as in private collections in Australia and Europe (1).
‘A Shared Sensitivity’ formed part of the luscious ‘The Sanctuary; All That Is’ collection exhibited at both Dominik Mersch gallery and the Sydney Contemporary digital art fair, a collection of free-standing porcelain sculptures. With each element hand-moulded and built up on the body of the pedestal to resemble scales, petals or fur, ‘A Shared Sensitivity’ and it’s sister pieces bristle with the illusion of life, ready to take flight. Speaking to art critic Jackie Lemmon, Kitson describes her visceral works as “quietly seductive. They are provocative, because underneath they are quite disgusting. … They are hybrids of nature.” Juxtaposing the beautiful and the grotesque, they combine classical symmetry, abject seduction and a chimera-like material play (2) (3).
A Shared Sensitivity was selected as one of Vogue Living’s 10 must-see artworks from the Sydney Contemporary’s digital art fair. View more here.