Hear from three ceramics fanatics about what they covet and collect.

In celebration of the many collections that it took to bring together 30 years of Chris Weaver’s work for Teapot Meditations, we’ll be joined by gallerist Eloise Kitson, curator Richard Fahey and artist Virginia Leonard for a novel evening of craft kōrero.

Each speaker will deliver a ‘show and tell’ style presentation, sharing insights into their long-standing love of ceramics, their collection, and their thoughts on what makes terrific works so, well, terrific.

Registration is essential for this free event.

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Virginia Leonard’s ceramic works are ornate, visceral wonders. Her large, vessel-like structures bear some resemblance to everyday domestic items, yet the familiar shapes of vases, jugs, and urns are abstracted, morphed into melting masses. Leonard holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from Whitecliffe College of Arts and Design, which she completed in 2001. She has won numerous awards and residencies, including a 2019 Artist-in-Residence prize in Finland, the Open to Art Ceramic Award from Officine Saffi, Milan, Italy, the Glass House/Stone House Residency in Chenaud, France and the paramount Officine Saffi Award, Milan, Italy, in 2022. Leonard’s work has been exhibited extensively throughout Australasia and internationally, and features in Thames and Hudson London's  100 Sculpture of Tomorrow, published 2020. Gow Langsford Gallery has represented Virginia Leonard since 2020. 

Eloise Kitson is Co-Director of Masterworks Gallery, alongside her mother, Christine Hedlund. Eloise has worked in the arts for over twenty years, with the majority at Masterworks. She is a strong advocate and supporter of the arts with a particular focus on the object/craft/decorative arts sector. Eloise has a strong appreciation of making, growing up around knitting, weaving, sewing and many other textile arts. Her childhood in Hong Kong with creative parents instilled a strong belief in the importance of material culture. Eloise has a Masters in Art History from the University of Auckland and as the sixth generation to call Aotearoa home, proudly identifies as Tangata Tiriti.

Richard Fahey is a senior lecturer within the School of Creative Industries, Unitec, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, where he has taught design and contemporary art since 1992. His research activity is focused on the material culture of Aotearoa. As an independent writer, critic and advocate, he addresses contemporary cultural production and its reception via the historical and institutional contexts of education, critical discourse, collection and exhibition.