About

The product of a finely balanced alchemy; working with porcelain today is as much a highwire act as it was in the early eighteenth century, when the secret of making porcelain was first discovered in Europe

Titania Henderson’s practice speaks to the heart of that fragile, delicate and most capricious material – white gold. The fragility of her work is not an accidental result of the material’s inherent nature but reflects, rather, a deliberate, highly personal choice – the use of porcelain instilling her work with deep vulnerability. Henderson’s work teeters on the edge of a sense of warmth and humanity, and of unease.

The chalky, milky whiteness and fine corrugations of the porcelain curls in Together, 2011-12, bring to mind butter curls, wood shavings, or the soft velvetiness of fine cardboard. They are imbued with tactility and familiarity. Yet the delicate piling of these fragile forms creates a sense of tension and disquiet. As Henderson describes them:

These folded, paper-thin forms foster ideas around the injustice within culture. The contrast between the fragility and vulnerability of each piece, and the cohesiveness of their arrangement as a whole, reflects my interest in capturing the idea of ‘the other’.

This ‘other’ may be read in numerous ways, but undoubtedly makes reference to the black form placed carefully amid the white stack, significantly located at the bottom of the pile and placed inside one of the white curls. Its containment speaks of its vulnerability and helplessness. Henderson writes, ‘The pieces each have a translucent quality and I find the final balancing and piling process creates a powerful sense of group containment’.

Henderson’s work is deeply emotional; the tenderness of her forms creates a dialogue between life, nature and artistic expression. Her use of bone china imbues the works with both fragility and robust strength, qualities akin to human nature. The individuality of each form is both deliberate and accidental – a result of fire – yet their beautifully finished edges and finely resolved surfaces speak of a highly skilled perfectionism

Amanda Dunsmore
Curator, International Decorative Art and Antiquities, National Gallery of Victoria

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Titania Henderson was born in 1945 in Holland and arrived in Australia in 1956. She currently lives and works in Melbourne.

Exhibitions

2024
The Other and The Other One, Australian Galleries, Melbourne

2014
Lines, Karen Woodbury Gallery, Melbourne

2010
The Other, Karen Woodbury Gallery, Melbourne

2007
Christine Abraham Gallery, Melbourne

Selected Group Exhibitions

2025
Autumn Layers, Australian Galleries, Melbourne

2025
Assemblage, Australian Galleries, Melbourne

2024
Ceramics, Australian Galleries, Melbourne

2023
Small Sculpture Group Exhibition, Australian Galleries, Melbourne

2020
National Gallery of Victoria Triennial 2020, Spectrum: An Exploration of Colour, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

2016
Spring 1883 Art Fair, The Windsor Hotel, Melbourne 

2014
Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize 2014, Woollahra Municipal Council, Sydney
Important Exhibition of Australian Ceramics, Mossgreen Gallery, Melbourne

2013
58th Premio Faenza Concorso Internazionale della Ceramica d’Arte Contemporanea, Museum of International Ceramics Faenza, Italy
McClelland Sculpture Park and Gallery Sculpture Fair 2013, Langwarrin, Victoria

2012
Cicely & Colin Rigg Award, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
McClelland Sculpture Park & Gallery Small Sculpture Fair, Langwarrin, Victoria
Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize 2012, Woollahra Council Chambers, Sydney
28th International Gold Coast Ceramic Art Award, The Arts Centre, Gold Coast
Deakin University Contemporary Small Sculpture Award, Melbourne

2011
Yering Station Sculpture Exhibition & Awards, Yering Station Art Gallery, Melbourne
Japonisme, Stella Downer Fine Arts, Sydney
Manningham Victorian Ceramic Art Award, Manningham Gallery, Melbourne
Deakin University Contemporary Small Sculpture Award, Melbourne

2010
27th Gold Coast International Ceramic Art Award, Gold Coast City Gallery, Queensland
Williamstown Festival Contemporary Art Prize, Newport Substation Heritage Building, Melbourne

2009
Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize, Woollahra Municipal Council, Sydney
Deakin Small Sculpture Award, Deakin University, Melbourne
New Gallery Artists, Karen Woodbury Gallery, Melbourne

2008
26th Gold Coast International Ceramic Art Award, Gold Coast City Art Gallery
Look: New Perspectives on the Contemporary Collection, National Gallery of Victoria, Federation Square Melbourne
Taiwan Ceramics Biennale, Taipei County Yingge Ceramics Museum, Taiwan

2006
Innovative Ceramics: Melbourne – Hong Kong, Nellie Castan Gallery, Melbourne

2005
54th Concorso Internazionale Della Ceramica d’Art, Museum of International Ceramics, Faenza, Italy
24th Gold Coast International Ceramic Art Award, Gold Coast City Art Gallery
Tattersall’s Contemporary Art Prize, Newport Substation Heritage Building, Melbourne

2004
Siemens Fine Art Scholarship Exhibition, RMIT Storey Hall Gallery, Melbourne
Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize Exhibition, Redleaf Council Chambers, Sydney
Harvest – Selection from Graduate Students, The New Talents in Glass & Ceramics, Quadrivium, Sydney
The Smorgon Steel Contemporary Art Prize, Customs Wharf Gallery, Williamstown Festival, Melbourne

2003
Next Wave Selected Award Exhibition of Graduate Students, Ceramic Art Gallery, Sydney
Ceramics: The Australian and New Zealand Context, Campbelltown City Bicentennial Art Gallery, Sydney

2001
Woollahra Sculpture Prize Exhibition, Redleaf Council Chambers, Sydney
RMIT Graduate Exhibition, Span Gallery, Melbourne

Grants and Awards

2013
58th Premio Faenza Concorso Internazionale della Ceramic d’Arte Contemporanea, Museum of International Ceramics Faenza, Italy (finalist)

2011
9th International Ceramics Festival Mino, Japan (finalist)

2009
Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize, Sydney (finalist)
Deakin Small Sculpture Award, Melbourne (finalist)

2008
Taiwan Ceramics Biennale, Taipei County Yingge Ceramics Museum, Taiwan (finalist)

2005
Tattersall’s Contemporary Art Prize, Melbourne (highly commended)
Craft Victoria Mentorship Program, Melbourne (mentor)
54th Concorso Internazionale Della Ceramica d’Art, Museum of International Ceramics, Faenza, Italy (finalist)

2004
Smorgon Steel Contemporary Art Prize Open Award Melbourne, Victoria (1st prize)
Siemens MIT Fine Arts Scholarship, Siemens, Melbourne (finalist)

Mentorship

2005
Craft Victoria Young & Emerging Artist Initiative

Public Collections

National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Museo Internazionale Della Ceramiche In Faenza, Italy
Taipei County Yingge Ceramics Museum, Taiwan

Publications

National Gallery of Victoria Triennial 2020 Spectrum Catalogue
The Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize 2015 Catalogue
Important Exhibition of Australian Ceramics 2014 Catalogue
Ceramic Review 2014
McClelland Sculpture Park and Gallery Sculpture Fair 2013 Catalogue
Cicely and Colin Rigg Contemporary Design Award 2012 Catalogue
28th Gold Coast International Ceramic Art Award 2012 Catalogue
Yering Station Sculpture Exhibition & Awards 2011 Catalogue
Manningham Victorian Ceramic Art Award 2011 Catalogue
The Journal of Australian Ceramics 2011
Ceramics: Art and Perception 2011
27th Gold Coast International Ceramic Art Award 2010 Catalogue
Williamstown Festival Contemporary Art Prize Finalists 2011 Catalogue
Taiwan Ceramics Biennale 2008 Catalogue 2008
NGV Foundation Annual Report 2008
The Journal of Australian Ceramics 2007
Ceramic Review 2007
The Journal of Australian Ceramics 2006
54th Premio Faenza International Ceramic Art Competition 2005 Catalogue
Ceramics: Art and Perception 2005
Ceramics: Art and Perception 2003

Qualifications

2004 Honours, Ceramics, RMIT University, Melbourne
2002 Bachelor of Arts (Fine Art) with Distinction RMIT University, Melbourne

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