Her work was included, along with Anne Graham 's melodramatic hair, foot and hand pieces in the first set of installations at EBH June 1997 for 'Artists in the House’, curated by Michael Goldberg and funded by the Australia Council. Clayton’s installation consisted of dozens of white cotton pincushions pinned with traditional messages about a woman’s role: 'Be good, sweet maid, and let those who will be clever’ et al., the idea being based on a pincushion in the house once owned by Kennethina Macleay. They were piled up against and in a linen cupboard outside the upstairs morning room, and on a windowsill, in glass cases and within glass domes in the exhibition area, where a genealogy of the Macleay women (by Ann Graham?) hung. Made as a family tree, this had a real dead butterfly pinned below each name, rather than a portrait. In an adjacent room were Graham’s set of photographs created from details of a flower or part of a flower and a butterfly, taken from the facsimile photographs of two splendid still-life paintings by Fanny Macleay done in 18xx, which hang in the house.
Final installation (opened by JK) comprised Alex Danko potatoes and Macleay feud, Nigel Hellyer’s excellent chattering, upholstered plush shells, and Anne Zahalka 's photographic installation, which included Macleay female genealogy as butterflies, close up detail photos of Fanny’s paintings, and floor piece of Macleay Museum specimens.
Also worked with Anne Graham at Casula Powerhouse on a large collaborative Convict Women installation (see Graham).
Clayton shares an interest in Japanese culture and designing ceramics for production with collaborator Paul Davis. In 2005, Clayton and Davis were able to acquire some state-of-the-art production equipment, which offered a long-term option to continue with personal work and also develop a range of tableware through their company, Press to play.
In 2007 their work was included in the Powerhouse Museum exhibition 'Smart works: design and the handmade’. At this time the pair were using Korean porcelain that came with their equipment, however their concern for the sustainability of resources, including freight over long distances, means they are now researching a clay body that will use local materials.
Clayton is a lecturer at the College of Fine Arts, UNSW.
- Writers:
- Staff Writer
Grace Cochrane, Powerhouse Museum
fishel
- Date written:
- 1999
- Last updated:
- 2013
