Origins brings together work by the 2026 students completing the New Zealand Diploma in Arts and Design in Ceramics through Otago Polytechnic at the Quarry Arts Centre.

Origins is an exhibition about learning in the making. Over the course of our ceramics diploma, each piece becomes a snapshot of our learning. From our first explorations with clay and form, through surface, glaze and firing, the work reflects the skills we are developing, the things we are discovering and the ideas we are beginning to make our own.

Clay has a way of taking you somewhere unexpected. Some pieces begin with an idea, while others emerge through experimentation, mistakes or simply seeing what happens. Each is shaped by our hands and our own stories, while the process of making gives the work stories of its own.

Together, the pieces in Origins capture a point in our journey: where we began, what we have learned along the way and where our making might take us next.

With special thanks to our knowledgeable and patient tutor and ceramic artist, Julie Cromwell, and to Jeffie Mulder and Israel Dawson for generously sharing their knowledge, expertise and experience with us throughout the year. We also thank the many artists who have shared their knowledge with us along the way and helped shape our own Origins stories.

Artists
Caitlin Osborne · Kylie Mitchel · Mandy Gumbley · Mel Badenhorst · Miriam Gavin · Monique Wheat · Teressa Cho