Breaking Ground

Breaking Ground is a self-initiated research project by Georgia Stevenson

It investigates the ways we can reimagine our usage of local materials. This study of unconventional, alternative materials for use in the ceramics involves industrial byproducts or things deemed as ‘waste’.

Breaking Ground questions: Where do ceramicists’ raw materials come from? What disturbance is their extraction having socially and environmentally? How can we innovate with materials that already exist and are about to be displaced (building sites removing earth, or demolition debris heading to landfill)? How can we move away from generic solutions of sourcing raw materials and look towards a locally viable option, inherent to Melbourne or Victoria?

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I’ll be using this glass in two exhibitions this year. The first one, ‘Material Studies’, will be at Craft Victoria's Vitrine Gallery from 25th July to 26th August. I'll be making an array of cubes that will each feature a differe
I wonder who used these bottles in 1907.  Were they meaningful objects? Were they purely functional or did they have some sort of sentimental value? How long were they used for? Were they used for a variety of purposes? To hold different liquid
15 Different samples of archaeology discard glass, fired to Cone 6 (~1220deg C) in my electric kiln. Swipe for photo pre-firing I went back into the huge container of samples received from Metro Tunnel and pulled out the glass types that had the hi
Glaze triaxial test using heritage glass* Fired to Cone 6 (around 1220°C) Left Corner | Heritage glass (crushed to a fine grit) Top | Potash Feldspar Right Corner | Kaolin / Eckalite Swipe for a photo before firing. Triaxial tests blend three
White midfire commercial clay with heritage glass additions (the other sides of the test tiles previously posted). Half of each tile has a satin-clear glaze. Swipe to flick between the two firing temperatures: 1. Fired to midfire temps (~1220°C
Excited to receive this gem of a Journal of Australian Ceramics issue in my mailbox last week!  Thank you to the team for the opportunity to write something on the topic of 'Unusual Ingredients'. Congrats to all my pottery mates dotted througho
Heritage glass* pressed into commercial white midfire clay Swipe to flick between the tests at the three stages of firing. 1. Unfired/raw (but ‘bone dry’) 2. Fired to bisque/biscuit temps (~1000°C) 3. Fired to midfire temps (~1220&d
Heritage glass* pressed into commercial white midfire clay My usual method for processing new alternative materials in the studio starts with crushing it with a hammer on the concrete floor then sieving it into coarse, fine and powder. I then do two
White midfire commercial clay with heritage glass* additions. Half of each tile has a satin-clear glaze. Swipe to flick between the tests at the three stages of firing.  1. Fired to midfire temp (~1220°C) 2. Fired to bisque/biscuit temp (~
Forever captivated by these glass shadows and colours. I was initially really drawn to the olive green glass, but have ended up diving back into the boxes in the last couple of days and pulled out all the glass samples and ended up testing 15 differ
Glass from the Metro Tunnel Project archaeological finds. I’ve got two huge plastic storage containers filled with material samples like these pictured, bagged in zip locks and labelled. There’s a mix of materials, from glass to ceramic a
Dark green and olive green glass bottle archaeological discard from the Metro Tunnel site. I’ve been lucky enough to get my hands on some of the archaeological discards from the Metro Tunnel project, with huge thanks to Craft Victoria for faci