Meet Andrei Davidoff
I ended up being in an art form that uses a lot of chemistry ...
Andrei Davidoff hand on pot.jpg
©Andrei Davidoff turns out a ceramic piece at Vaucluse House. Photo © Clare Plueckhahn
- Artist-in-residence
Meet Andrei Davidoff
Andrei Davidoff, a contemporary ceramic artist, worked in the courtyard of Vaucluse House during the busy September school holidays, creating artworks inspired by his surroundings. Alysha Buss caught up with Andrei 'at the wheel' to find out a bit about him and his practice. Join Alysha for a spin... Vaucluse House. Photo © James Horan for Sydney Living Museums
ALYSHA BUSS: Tell me about your art making practice.
ANDREI DAVIDOFF: In essence I’ve got two strings to my bow in my practice. I’ve got a functional ceramics practice - so that’s designing and making ceramics bowls, plates, bottles and vases for shops, restaurants, interior design commissions, that kind of stuff. Then I’ve got my conceptual practice, which doesn’t always include ceramics. I also work with glass and lead and steel and a whole bunch of media.
My conceptual practice usually involves me looking at architectural spaces - that’s my interest - space, how people interact with spaces, and how those spaces fit within the natural environment.
AB: Could you tell us/me about your background and how that contributes to your practice today?
AD: I studied chemical engineering, then I got into the visual arts so people are often interested and say ‘did you waste all that time doing engineering?’ But I ended up being in an art form that uses a lot of chemistry and there is a knowledge that has to come with you being able to work proficiently with clay and make your own glazes and to fire in certain ways.
So I guess you can say that my pre-arts background and understanding of materials and chemistry really helped my knowledge to be deeper in the technical aspects.
AB: And you can push the materials in different ways?
AD: I can muck around with things a little more and know why certain things happen.
I ended up being in an art form that uses a lot of chemistry ... Resident artist Andrei Davidoff at work on the potters wheel at Vaucluse House during September 2014. Photo Alysha Buss © Sydney Living Museums
AB: What is it about Vaucluse House that made you want to be an artist-in-residence here?
AD: Once I came here for the initial visit, it became clear that there are some really interesting stories here, as well as spaces, and the stories and the spaces go together really nicely. So it was a perfect place to have a residency.
The parents were like, let’s go and get an ice cream, and the kids were like, no we want to see him make another pot ... I've become cooler than ice cream
AB: How's it been working and talking to visitors and what do they get out of it, in your opinion?
Well, I haven’t really worked in public, so I was a little bit nervous before I started. But I have two little baby girls at home, and they are constantly at my heels while I’m working in the studio. So chatting and working - ceramics is good for that. It’s a really nice and relaxing process that you’re working with as well, when it’s going well. Luckily nothing went badly, so I didn’t have any bad days, everyone was happy. I think the kids really loved it.
For me it’s a really common thing for people to make, I have so many friends who work with clay and are artists. But I do realise that most people don’t get to see how these things are made, what the whole process is. So I guess it’s really nice for them and lots of people just sat there fascinated. The parents were like, ‘let’s go and get an ice cream’ and the kids were like ‘no we want to see him make another pot’, and I was like ‘I’ve become cooler than ice cream’… the ultimate compliment (laughs).
AB: I'm really looking forward to seeing these finished and on display throughout the house in the summer holidays. What's in it for the visitors?
AD: I think people exploring the house and seeing details that they might not have seen before or doing a tour and then seeing my works and things coming together with the stories. I really want people to notice things about the spaces that they might normally just walk by and might not realise.
as the world turns
Tools of the trade Visitors watch Andrei Davidoff at work Working on the edge Stacking vessels At the potter's wheel Looking on Newly turned ceramic pieces
Visitors watch Andrei Davidoff at work
Artist in residence Andrei Davidoff at work in front of Vaucluse House visitors.
Photo Alysha Buss © Sydney Living Museums Tap for full size image
Working on the edge
This cylindrical ceramic vessel on the potter's wheel is almost complete.
Photo Alysha Buss © Sydney Living Museums Tap for full size image
Stacking vessels
Andrei Davidoff arranges freshly created ceramic vessels out to dry in the courtyard at Vaucluse House.
Photo Alysha Buss © Sydney Living Museums Tap for full size image
At the potter's wheel
Andrei Davidoff at work on the potters wheel at Vaucluse House
Photo Alysha Buss © Sydney Living Museums Tap for full size image
Looking on
Visitors look on as artist in residence Andrei Davidoff works on his ceramic pieces.
Photo Alysha Buss © Sydney Living Museums Tap for full size image
Newly turned ceramic pieces
Andrei Davidoff's reshly created ceramic vessels left to dry at Vaucluse House.
Photo Alysha Buss © Sydney Living Museums Tap for full size image
Tools of the trade
Muddy tools and equipment of the potter's trade.
Photo Alysha Buss © Sydney Living Museums Tap for full size image
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This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body.
About the Author
Alysha Buss Former assistant interpretation curator Interpretation & Exhibitions Alysha Buss remembers being awestruck as a child by the mystery and wonder of museums. As the Assistant interpretation curator at Sydney Living Museums, she hopes to instill the same kind of thrill and excitement in visitors today. See full profile
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