Grace Brown
Grace Brown, from Oh Hey Grace, transports us to magical mini worlds through her clay creations, providing an opportunity to playfully escape and transcend the daily grind.
Words: Georgie Ward | Photography: Jess Brohier & Melissa Cowan
‘I took a night ceramics class just to unwind and became hooked! Before long I quit my job and made ceramics and teaching my focus,’ says Grace Brown. Photo: Melissa Cowan
‘I was working in the fashion industry and found I wasn’t using my hands as much as I wanted to.’ Photo: Melissa Cowan
Influenced by geometric shapes, contrasting textures and architectural forms, Grace Brown from Oh Hey Grace, crafts her clay creations from her Melbourne-based studio.
Using a combination of wheel-thrown and hand-building techniques, she builds sculptures that give glimpses into utopian cityscapes, with labyrinth forms of stairwells, sharp lines, smooth domes and archways.
Grace’s artistic journey began as a child, finding discarded objects in her dad’s farm workshop and turning them into her own sculptures. Growing up on a farm meant her whole life revolved around the soil. While she was never destined to be a farmer, she longed for a career that had a connection with the soil. ‘That’s what I love most about working with clay, I love that it’s from the earth. It’s a beautiful connection between creativity and my own history,’ says Grace.
She spends her days in the studio delving into research, exploring ancient architectural forms, fallen civilizations, digital landscapes, and futuristic architecture found in science fiction. ‘I find landscapes that resonate with me, whether they are set in the desert, a moonscape, or something completely unrecoginseable, and I imagine the buildings that would sit within the space.’
She begins her process by planning and sketching collections of mini worlds, from here she chooses a sketch she likes and starts creating it in miniature, then once she’s happy with the form, Grace begins to build her full-scale clay creations.
‘I spend a lot of time drawing mini worlds, and once I find a collection of sketches that I like, I will start building it with clay,’ says Grace Brown. Photo: Melissa Cowan
‘A lot of my career was behind a computer and after a while I realised that wasn’t what I really wanted,’ says Grace Brown. Photo: Courtesy of Oh Hey Grace
‘I want to move into making larger pieces. I love working in miniature, but it’s so wonderful to see things bigger… I find its easer to feel immersed in something larger,’ says Grace Brown. Photo: Courtesy of Oh Hey Grace
“My aim is to tell a story through my sculptures, I hope that each piece can transport the viewer to another time, place, or universe.”
‘I try and spend the majority of my day working uninterrupted, I’ll dive into some podcasts, although it can be difficult trying to film the process… oh the joys of being an artist in the digital age!’ says Grace Brown. Photo: Melissa Cowan
Her work is all about timing as working with clay is not an immediate process. Grace gets started at her studio by prepping her clay and letting it rest to partially dry, making it easier to sculpt. While the clay rests she splits her time between social media, admin or packing the kilns, glazing, and designing. The majority of her days are spent spinning the wheel, smoothing out her crafty clay sculptures.
Grace’s work utilises a soft and earthy colour palette, to create her truly magical maze-like sculptures and miniature metropolises. Each of her pieces are lovingly handmade and designed to encourage playful interaction, offering a way to connect art and mindfulness into our daily lives.
‘As people navigate our changing world and often face significant challenges, escapism through art can help reduce stress and increase feelings of hope, determination and courage.’ Grace aims to allow her viewer to dream of stronger connections to themselves, others and the world around us.
The future for Grace is looking bright, she aims to move onto some larger scale, tiled pieces as well the possibility of creating her own digital landscape worlds using 3D rendering.
With a few exciting exhibitions in the works, we will hope to see some interesting colour variations introduced in her work to come!
