Brisbane potter Bonnie Hislop makes “trophies for mediocrity”: huge, elaborate ceramic prizes she hands to customers as tokens of just getting by and existing.
“These trophies celebrate the fact that none of us feel like winners at the moment,” Hislop tells Broadsheet. “A little bit kind, a little bit sarcastic. They’re the things people are buying for themselves as a reminder that they’re doing okay.”
So far, Hislop has created trophies adorned with slogans like, “Welcome to the party”, “This is fine” and “Help I’m bored again”.
The first of this haphazard collection came during the pandemic and was even more non-committal. “It was a series of four small pots, and [they] said, ‘Um’, ‘Okay’, ‘Wow’, ‘Chill’,” she explains.
Then the first super-sized editions took shape, emblazoned with “Fancy seeing you here” and “Better luck next year”. The latter resonated hugely through lockdowns, and is still appropriate to the times, Hislop says. “That pot became like a mantra for everyone. I made brooches out of it as well.”
Since founding a full-time practice in 2017, Hislop has become known for colourful hand-built mugs and homewares – especially her signature cat-head cups. Now the trophy-making has taken hold, she describes her work as “functional sculpture”, and she’s quick to point out that even her most baroque pieces are made to be used. (Buyers have put them to work as plant pots and table centrepieces, as well as sculptural displays.)
The trophy collection is about more than pretty looks, Hislop says. “Collective feelings around the pandemic inspired me to start making work from a place of inquiry for the first time … All of a sudden I had something more substantial to say, and I wanted to make these pots that figuratively scream the message.”
Hislop’s trophy-making isn’t fast – each piece takes around two or three months to make. First the forms are hand-coiled in stages over a week or so to build up to 60 centimetres in height, then different slogans are considered that fit well with the shape. Hislop cuts the lettering freehand from clay in her personal typography – “it’s all capslock screaming all the time” – and makes sure each form holds its own weight before applying. Apparently Gs are the trickiest letter to get right.
Once the sculpting is done, the trophies are left to dry for three or four weeks before a first firing in the kiln. Hislop then paints her creations with colourful underglazes and a clear glaze on top before a second firing. Lastly, she adds “gold lustre and metallic details” before a final curing in the kiln.
Lately Hislop has been collaborating with friend and photographer Melanie Hinds to document the trophies as they’re made. Hinds’s images show Hislop dressing up in sequinned frocks or prom dresses, giving “resting evil face” while holding her works aloft in unlikely public settings. The shoots have almost become “performance art”, Hislop says. “That’s part of the fun.”
Hislop is currently working towards a solo show for Brisbane Art Design, where her newest crop of trophies will be on display – and available for sale. She’s also part of the just-announced Clay: Collected Ceramics exhibition at the Museum of Brisbane.
Beyond that, Hislop will be turning her attention to commissions and producing custom orders via her website – including the enormous “sarcastic pots” and some smaller wares.
