Tassie by design
'Tis the season to be gifting. This year, treat someone – or yourself – courtesy of these top Tasmanian makers and collectives.
Tasmania is full of talented, independent creatives who make a living doing what they love, while making beautiful things in the process. From market stalls to online stores, there’s a wealth of local art, craft and design to discover, often with affordable pieces that exemplify the spirit of our beautiful state.
Hasa
I’m biased when it comes to Hasa: we already have two of their elegant rolling pins in our kitchen, and we’re not even avid bakers. We love the beauty and simplicity of these functional objects. Hasa’s collection comes in a range of Tasmanian timbers including blackwood, sassafras and Huon pine and includes cheese boards, platters and utensils, all of which honour the materials from which they are made. Creative couple Maureen and Ron have been making their signature pieces for more than 20 years, gracing kitchens across Tassie and the world.
Credit: Brady Michaels
Blackspace Creative
Blackspace Creative is a Burnie-based collective that showcases palawa arts and culture and represents around 20 makers whose work spans art, craft and design. Cultural objects such as woven baskets, intricate shell necklaces and wooden hand tools all have a powerful connection to culture. Emma Robertson’s petroglyph-marked timber jewellery and textiles merge ancient Aboriginal rock markings with contemporary design to create wearable works of art.
Zsolt Faludi
Hungarian-born Zsolt Faludi was trained as a potter in his birth country, before migrating to Tasmania and settling in the Huon Valley in the 1980s. His diverse work is an evolving union of form and function, using clay to create pieces that celebrate colour, texture and the marks of the maker, sometimes combined with materials such as wood and rope. Faludi’s ceremonial cups glow in a rich gold glaze while utilitarian mixing bowls and water jugs have a muted palette and refined elegance that works in any kitchen.
State of Flux
State of Flux is a small contemporary jewellery collective with a studio, gallery and store in Hobart’s Salamanca Arts Centre. Here, creatives Jane Hodgetts, Anna Weber, Emma Bugg and Gabbee Stolp make and exhibit jewellery, small objects and textiles that are thoughtful, beautiful and inspired. Each artist’s work stands out for its imaginative use of materials, from Emma’s mix of concrete and precious metal and Anna’s reimagined Laminex creations to Gabbee’s water-cast silver splash pieces and Jane’s metallic moon and raindrop earrings.
Check out their Instagram: state_of_flux_workshop
Credit: J Barclay
Christine Hannan
Christine Hannan’s kiln-fired glass art, jewellery and homewares are inspired by nature and range from the colourful to the sublime. Delicately fused glass bowls are vibrant explosions of colour and texture, while Christine’s slump necklace is a minimal masterpiece. Everything she makes is a celebration of the beauty and potential of the materials she uses, and her experiments in glass are simply stunning.
See her work on Instagram at c_m_hannan and find it as part of the curated collection at Design Tasmania in Launceston.
Credit: Peter Whyte