Design and Art Australia Online

Ceramicist, was born Joyce Halpin on 14th October 1915. Her mother, Lavinia Figtree, was an amateur landscape artist who painted several townscapes of Wollongong. After her marriage Joyce Gittoes settled in the St George area, originally at Rockdale, which was reasonably close to Kogarah Technical College where she studied ceramics under Molly Douglas and Mrs Anderson. Her early work is best described as being in the Japanese tradition as encouraged by post World War II British taste. Gittoes began to exhibit her ceramics with artist groups in the St George region and then to enter art prizes. She was awarded the grand prize at the Royal Easter Show. By the mid-1960s she was living at Bardwell Park where she continued to expand her practice. She exhibited at Barry Stern Galleries as well as mixed exhibitions. In 1971 her work changed direction after she made some ceramic objects based on Magritte for the Stone Room at the Yellow House in Sydney, where her son George Gittoes was a puppeteer and performer. It may well be that the technical challenges posed by this work encouraged her own art to move away from bowls and vases towards creating objects. Another source of encouragement was the direction taken by her daughter, Pamela Griffith, whose etchings and paintings were moving towards detailed studies of Australian flora and fauna. The mature work of Joyce Gittoes is best described as small ceramic sculptures of Australian native life. Her favourite subjects were owls, and these are greatly prized by collectors. Her most significant piece of public work is the ceramic mural installation at the Berrima Correctional Centre in the Northern Territory.

Writers:

Mendelssohn, Joanna

Date written:

1999

Last updated:

2011