Gail Barratt - Waiheke ceramicist

I first met Gail Barratt at a Raku firing during Artisphere’s Winter exhibition. In person, Gail is a bright and bubbly person and puts extraordinary imagination into her work.  Gail has this incredibly different artistic approach to ceramics and clay which is very organic. I first saw her work at the Common Ground exhibition wherein the artists use local clay at Waiheke Island’s Red Shed. Gail helped to curate the exhibition and had several works on display. Her artwork was earthly and zoomorphic; a piece of round tiles with small barnacle-like protrusions caught my eye. There is a certain depth and darkness to Gail’s work which I appreciate and it reminds me of Tim Burton films; bowls with many legs that look like they will suddenly scamper away and textures that look like the shells of insects. 

Gail has participated in local exhibitions at Space Gallery and the Waiheke Community Art Gallery as well as exhibitions for her mosaic work in Waihi and the Hibiscus Coast. She has won the 2018 NZ Mosaic Art National Exhibition: 1st – “Pacifica Tattoo”, and her short 3 year career as a sculptor she has won the 2019 Auckland Easter Art Show Awards: Ceramics 1st prize “Gossamer”, the Small Sculpture Prize: 1st place winner for “Ecosystem” in 2020, the Nelson Small Sculpture Awards: Finalist for “Into the Abyss” and finalist in the 2021 Emerging Practitioner in Clay Award.

She has been very productive this lockdown and I look forward to seeing all the detail in her work in person very soon.

Michelle Barber:  What is your background Gail Barratt? 

Gail Barratt:  My first job was for a photography studio up North in Kaitaia. At the age of 17, my life revolved around spending multiple hours in the darkroom or assisting with portrait sittings. A year or so later I left for the big lights of Auckland and quickly secured a job as a hand retoucher (in the days before photoshop!) for a renowned photographer in Parnell. Another year later an ad for a photolithographer at Colourscan captured my imagination and led to an extended career for many years. 

My partner then had a “Eureka!” moment, we moved to the countryside to farm capsicums and art became my hobby. My passion still lay with art photography and extended to intricate hand cut glass mosiac torsos and wall pieces. Years later in August, 2018, a permanent move to Waiheke brought me to a pottery night class at the Catherine Mitchell Arts Centre with Hilary Kerrod and I found my happy place working with clay.

MB:  What does your work aim to say if anything? It doesn’t have to “say” anything but moreover, what does it say to you?

GB:  My art is a response to the ever-changing elements of the sea and the impact of climate change. The intricate detail and unexpected shapes are a reflection of the complexity of nature.

MB:  Who are your biggest artistic influences?

GB: My biggest artistic influences would be Waiheke local Hilary Kerrod and various Japanese ceramic masters.

MB:  What else do you do? And does this influence your work?

GB: I still take photographs – although now mainly of birds. A detail in a flower or a bee on a native plant where I see texture or a shape and the resulting pic then influences my next sculpture.

MB:  How are you coping with lockdown? Are you more productive during lockdown? Does your work reflect what’s currently happening? (i.e., does lockdown/isolation influence your work?)

GB:  This lockdown I have been enormously productive and have locked myself away in my studio, ignoring the news, practising areas that need work and just making simple pieces that don’t require too much thinking. Spotify music playing in the background helps me play with the clay.