Craft / Greg Daly – “Dappled Light”, Nancy Sever Gallery, Level 1, 131 City Walk, Civic (next door to King O’Malleys). Until April 25. Open 10am-4pm, Wednesday to Sunday. Reviewed by MEREDITH HINCHLIFFE. 

GREG Daly is a ceramist who has been making work for many years. He has exhibited in over 250 international and national exhibitions and he has won 36 national and international awards. 

This is his 103rd solo exhibition.

“Dappled Light” includes four series, each of which is about light and its interaction with the landscape in which he lives and works – two persistent themes in Daly’s work.

Daly’s studio is in mid-west NSW. The light on the clouds, the grasses, the sky and the tree canopy are constantly changing, and provide endless inspiration for his work.

The “Morning Light” series includes 13 bowls and spherical forms. Catalogue No.29 is a bowl with a soft, tactile surface, and interior decoration of dark clouds with splashes of green. The morning light reflects gently on the grasses in the sunlight. Daly captures these fleeting moments, so they remain with us forever.

By far the largest group of works is the “Dappled Light” series. The work contrasts with the “Morning Light” series – bright, vibrant splashes of colour cover the surfaces of bowls, plates and spherical forms. They sing and pop with colours, though I find them rather overwhelming. He has mastered the techniques of multiple layers of lustre glazes, but often less is more. Catalogue No.56 is a bowl with a citrus-yellow interior, that provides a contrast with the riotous exterior.

The third series, “Parched Earth”, is rather small. Large plates and forms are glazed with a bright copper-coloured glaze and splashes of gold and silver lustre. They evoke the dry, red earth of droughty landscapes.

Daly makes wonderful forms that carry his glazes perfectly. The final series, “Sunset Sky”, brings to mind memories of endless beautiful sunsets. No.15 in particular shows a dark cloud in the centre of a vivid red sky. It is probably not a promise of rain, but the contrasting dark grey and a splash of white bring out the brilliance of the red.

Daly is one of Australia’s foremost ceramicists and has forged a special position with lustre glazes. This exhibition shows his skills as a thrower and a surface decorator to perfection.