Domestic Goddess

This week, Dharawal/Thirroul-based contemporary artist Chrystie Longworth will follow her recent postgraduate show at the National Art School with a summertime solo exhibition at Michael Reid Murrurundi.

Longworth’s beautiful new exhibition brings together a vibrant and fabulously offbeat display of voluptuously formed, wheel-thrown vessels from her Domestic Goddess series, building on her studio experimentation at NAS to interrogate narratives of femininity, identity and domesticity.

“Inspired by historical examples of women’s subversive messages hidden within textiles, my practice seeks to revive these traditions through the use of symbols masquerading as decorative patterns,” says the artist, whose playfully idiosyncratic sculptures dazzled visitors to the NAS Postgrad Show in late 2024. “Placed adjacent to a key, the pieces softly whisper to be interpreted.”

Working mostly with terracotta and pigments, Longworth often eschews ceramic glaze in favour of the matte, tactile quality of raw clay surfaces, inviting a subtle dance of light as it “caresses the curves of each sculpture,” she says. Each work’s stacked or clustered totemic forms are finished in alluring tones – from rosy blush pinks to brilliant ultramarine.

“Installed in intimate groups, the work calls for a reassessment of values,” says Longworth, “suggesting that meaningful connections and shared experiences hold greater significance than the superficial ideals often promoted in contemporary culture.”