Maker Profiles: Steven Cavanagh & Rebecca Dowling

As part of Steven Cavanagh and Rebecca Dowling’s Design and the Anthropocene now on in William Street Window Gallery, ADC’s Communications Producer Laura Wesolowski asked Steven and Rebecca three quick-fire questions to find out what inspires them as designer makers.

What do you make?

S: I am a multimedia artist working across artforms from art installations, performative works, photomedia and design. My art practice focuses on photography and photomedia as a jumping off point for exploring the physical and psychological world of lived experience. Materiality is fundamental to my practice. I am always considering how I can best work with materials in an accessible and environmentally gentle way. I work with a variety of domestic items, recycled materials and found objects. I’m interested in the conversation between what might be considered high or low art and the function of art in society.

R: My ceramic practice is centred on the intimate relationship between user and domestic object. For over 30 years I have worked on perfecting clay pieces which mould themselves to the human hand, heightening the experience of eating, drinking, and preparation.

What drew you together to make collaboratively on this series?

R: Steven and I have known each other for a few years out and about the art scene in the Central West of NSW, but it wasn’t until Steven visited my studio that we started throwing ideas around about our studio practices. It's the magic of our own studio spaces where we really got to know each other.

S: Together we created a tile that would work with my cyanotype art. We worked on finding a solution to the precarious use of cyanotype chemicals on ceramics. Together we landed on an optimal firing temperature so that I could still create the artwork on the tiles in the way I wanted.

What inspires you both?

S: In a desire to broaden my art practice, career and most importantly life, I chose to make a move into the NSW Central West in 2018. I look to the natural world for inspiration and comfort. In recent years I have become increasingly interested in the expression of nature as a complicated experience of beauty. A consideration that has pushed my art practice along with gentle urgency. My home and studio are located on a beautiful property in Hill End where the hum of the bush is ever present and full of surprises.

R: Glazes evoke the land I live on in rural NSW, with dense shades redolent of eucalyptus bark and leaves, dusty soil, and clouded skies.

Thanks Steven and Rebecca!

To learn more about Steven and Rebecca’s work, follow them below:

Steven's Instagram

Rebecca's Instagram