Chester Nealie (born 1942) is a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

-born

potter A potter is someone who makes pottery. Potter may also refer to: Places United States *Potter, originally a section on the Alaska Railroad, currently a neighborhood of Anchorage, Alaska, US * Potter, Arkansas *Potter, Nebraska * Potters, New Je ...

and teacher. In 1991 he moved to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Early life and education

Nealie was born in

Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. The city lies on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authority encompass ...

in 1942. In 1963 he graduated from Auckland Secondary Teachers College and began practicing pottery, taught by potters

Shoji Hamada A is a door, window or room divider used in traditional Japanese architecture, consisting of translucent (or transparent) sheets on a lattice frame. Where light transmission is not needed, the similar but opaque ''fusuma'' is used (oshiire ...

, Takeichi Kawai and

Michael Cardew Michael Ambrose Cardew (1901–1983), was an English studio potter who worked in West Africa for twenty years. Early life Cardew was born in Wimbledon, London, the fourth child of Arthur Cardew, a civil servant, and Alexandra Kitchin, the elde ...

. Between 1972 and 1975 he became a ceramics lecturer at North Shore Teachers College.

Work and career

Nealie began working with salt-glaze ceramics: he built his first

anagama kiln The ''anagama'' kiln (Japanese Kanji: 穴窯/ Hiragana: あながま) is an ancient type of pottery kiln brought to Japan from China via Korea in the 5th century. It is a version of the climbing dragon kiln of south China, whose further devel ...

in 1978, after visiting Japan. He has gone on to research and work with wood firing in Japan, Korea, China, the United States, Norway, Burma, Bangladesh and South Africa. His work in this form, and working relationship with Australian potter Owen Rye, has been described by ceramic historian

Janet Mansfield Janet Mansfield (19 August 1934 – 4 February 2013) was an Australian potter known for her salt glazed works. She was also a publisher and author. Early life and education Mansfield was born in 1934 in Sydney, Australia. She trained at th ...

as 'a significant force and impetus for anagama and wood firing in Australia'. The act of gathering and collecting artefacts is influential in his work. Nealie has said

Digging up old bottles, collecting scraps of weathered driftwood from the mangrove swamps or absorbing visual delights in fossils and artefacts in musky museums are often stimuli behind my work. My shapes are a synthesis of an emotional link I feel with past objects and the accidental play with clay in its making. I like to use a slow turning wheel with a minimum of water so that all honest marks of making remain to be seen.

In 1982 and 1987 Nealie was awarded the Premier Award at the Fletcher Challenge Ceramics Award. In 1988 he curated the New Zealand Expo Pavilion in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

. In 1992, he was a member of the Artists in the Sub-Antarctic expedition to the Auckland Islands and was featured in the ''

Treasures of the Underworld ''Treasures of the Underworld'' was an exhibition featured in the New Zealand pavilion of Seville Expo '92. The exhibition The exhibition featured 48 works, comprising a total of 399 individual pieces. It was extremely successful with over half a ...

'' exhibition at the Seville World Expo. In 1993 he became a research fellow at

Monash University Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university has a ...

Collections

Nealie's work is held in the collections of the

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. ''Te Papa Tongarewa'' translates literally to "container of treasures" or in full "container of treasured things and people that spring fr ...

, the Auckland War Memorial Museum,

Otago Museum Tūhura Otago Museum is located in the city centre of Dunedin, New Zealand. It is adjacent to the University of Otago campus in Dunedin North, 1,500 metres northeast of the city centre. It is one of the city's leading attractions and has one of t ...

, Powerhouse Museum, and the Shepparton Art Gallery in Australia.

References

1942 births New Zealand potters Living people People from Rotorua {{NewZealand-artist-stub