DANIELLE LOVATT

‘A MERGE OF CURIOSITIES’

Exhibition 20 September until 12 October 2025

‘ A Merge of Curiosities’ is a play on both the concept of a Cabinet of Curiosities and the merge of my painting and ceramics. A desire to collect and a fascination with the foreign and the past is present in these works, as is the artistic exchange that has occurred through trade and travel.

The paintings and handbuilt ceramics are presented in a series of suites; another play on the Western need to curate and categorise. These are whimsical, often wonky objects and images about curiosity and collecting. Historical tales and records of travelling merchants and artisans, cross cultural image exchange, plant and relic hunting and aesthetic and commercial imperialism are some of the themes that appear throughout the pieces. A nod to Jung’s Collective Unconscious and the use of syncretism and pastiche has allowed me to suggest a universal connection through the works rather than a direct representation.

Danielle Lovatt is an emerging artist who has recently left a long career as a Secondary School Visual Arts teacher to develop her practice full time. She works predominantly across the forms of painting and ceramics and is based in Lismore on Bundjalung Country.

Using symbolism, subjective colour and decorative patterns inspired by the exotic, she combines elements of the real and the imagined worlds into intimate scenes that celebrate the so-called ordinary.

Danielle’s hand built, brightly coloured ceramic forms are full of hand painted whimsy with allusions to historical conventions in ceramics and the play of the oriental world meeting the occidental.

Danielle has been a finalist and Judge’s choice in art prizes and has exhibited in solo and group shows and Affordable Art Fairs. She is represented by a number of Australian galleries and her work is held in private collections nationally and internationally.