A ceramic vessel made by David Pottinger and decorated by Stephen Benwell has been acquired by the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney.

Curator at The Powerhouse Museum, Eva Czernis-Ryl lauds Stephen Benwell as one of Australia's most original contemporary ceramicists. She says, "Benwell has consistently challenged functional pottery traditions by choosing conceptual concerns of the contemporary artist. This vessel represents the work Benwell created at the turn of the 21st century when his creative interests were shifting from free-form vessels to expressive male figures addressing the complexities of masculinity. Seen in this context, it demonstrates how Benwell's early interests in expressive possibilities of clay through free-form modelling and expressive qualities of line and colour on the surface, morphed into three-dimensional figurative sculptures, a happy riot of clay, sculpture and painting."

Collection: Powerhouse Museum. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program by John McBride, 2024. Photo: Linda Warlond.